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Europe
Ankara picks hard-line general to replace armed forces' outgoing chief of staff
2006-08-01
He looks like a friendly enough fellow...
Turkey on Monday appointed a general who is expected to adopt a tougher line toward EU negotiations to replace the head the country's powerful military, who was widely considered a moderate. The change in leadership, which was widely anticipated, comes as Turkey is insisting that Washington do more to crack down on Turkish Kurdish rebels operating out of bases in northern Iraq. It also comes as the United States is pressing Turkey and other countries to contribute to a possible peacekeeping force along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

General Yasar Buyukanit, the head of land forces, was named to replace Geneina Hilmi Ozkok, the chief of staff, when Ozkok retires later the month. Turkey's Supreme Military Council, chaired by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, will approve Ozkok's replacement and other key personnel changes at a meeting on August 1-4. Ozkok retires on August 30 and has ruled out suggestions he might stay on another year.

"This appointment is important because the Turkish armed forces are still largely autonomous, despite EU reforms trimming their powers," said Lale Sariibrahimoglu, Turkey correspondent of the British-based Jane's Defense Weekly. "Many in [Erdogan's ruling] AK Party would have liked to see Ozkok stay on for another year. Buyukanit is from the old school, against the full civilian control of the military, while Ozkok is more of a democrat," she said.
Posted by:Fred

#3  "Weekend at Bernies"
Posted by: Captain America   2006-08-01 21:40  

#2  My understanding is there are two different fights going on, or rather two different dimensions along which people disagree.

Fight between the Islamacists and the oldschool Turkish generals who are mostly secularists but who in any case distrust populism of the sort the Islamacists used to gain office. - one dimension

Along another dimension, there's a fight between those who want into the EU and those who don't because it would diminish Turkish autonomy - including, for the Islamacists, the autonomy to impose Sharia.

These parties overlap, but not entirely IIUC. Comments from anyone who's more intimately familiar with the political issues there would be welcome.
Posted by: lotp   2006-08-01 07:48  

#1  He looks like a corpse propped up and with sunglasses to hide the eyes.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2006-08-01 06:28  

00:00