Turkish army wary over European future

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuters) -- A delicate shadow dance between powerful Turkish generals wary of militant Islam and pro-European politicians seeking human rights reform is raising questions over the role of the army and the future of democracy in Turkey.

This week's 20th anniversary of a coup that ended street fighting and imposed strict limits on freedom of speech and political action, provides a melancholy backdrop for debate of a very delicate taboo.

"The army is in a dilemma," Semih Idiz of the Star daily said. "They have defined EU membership as a geostrategic necessity, but general after general of late has spoken of people hiding behind the mask of Copenhagen in pursuing their wily ends."

The European Union's Copenhagen criteria require major changes in Turkish legislation to ease restrictions on freedom of speech and political activity. Parliament may soon rule on one key law.

Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said publicly that many, and the military among them, fear such reforms would aid Islamists and Kurdish separatists seeking to usurp the political order.

"Certain circles tend to believe Europe took its Helsinki (candidacy) decision with the aim of splitting Turkey. We must persuade these people the opposite is true," commentator Mehmet Ali Birand quoted Yilmaz in the Turkish Daily News as saying.

Chief of General Staff General Huseyin Kivrikoglu is rarely given to public outbursts. But he complained recently of broad Islamist infiltration of public life including the judiciary.

"There are thousands of civil servants in every rank who want to destroy the state," he said. "There are some others who kiss the hands of those who want to undermine the state."

Newly-appointed president Ahmet Necdet Sezer raised military eyebrows by refusing to sign a government decree for a purge of civil servants suspected of links to Islamist radicals.

He sent it to parliament where it may stir divisive debate. The purge had long been demanded by the army, among others, as part of a wider crackdown that resulted in 1997 in the collapse of a year-old Islamist-led government. It may soon see the banning of the chief opposition Islamist Virtue Party.

Kivrikoglu said the government may "lose prestige" if the decree were voted down in parliament. Oft-chastened politicians will understand his words as something more than friendly advice.

Many welcomed the 1980 putsch being remembered on September 12 as a relief from bloody street fighting, but now see the stifling constitution left by the generals as the root of human rights troubles in Turkey and a prime obstacle to Europe.

"In the last two decades of the 20th century...analysing and criticising were discouraged in Turkey," said Cumhuriyet daily.

The army exerts considerable influence behind the scenes and wields support for its campaign against the "twin evils" of political Islam and Kurdish separatism.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's handling of the purge decree may have been seen as tardy and clumsy by the generals.

The present government led by Ecevit's Democratic Left Party and the right wing Nationalist Action Party (MHP) is one of the most stable in years, steering a vital anti-inflation plan. Nationalist sentiments could hamper EU talks, though the MHP insists it has its sights on Brussels and the changes demanded.

Flags are being raised ahead of November when the EU sets out changes it expects before any membership talks. This may include changes in the role of the military.

Conservatives, including the army, believe tight laws on freedom of expression and political activity are essential.

Others believe that as long as those laws remain in place not only is the EU beyond reach but the legitimacy and thus the power of the state the army wishes to protect is compromised. Here, then, lies a danger for the army, so long seen by many as the force for progress, protecting against dark reaction.

"These are intelligent, sophisticated people," said one Western diplomat. "They must see that if the debate heats up, they risk being seen as an obstacle to progress, to democracy, to human rights and, ultimately, to a Turkey in Europe."

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