Turkey has long experienced tension between the military and the government. While each ostensibly serves the needs of the other, in reality, the military has been viewed as the regulator of the government. Should the government lean too far away from the goals and vision of Mustafa Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkish republic, the military has the power to remove or rein in the government. The military has tried to enforce the issue of a secular government, and it becomes agitated if it sees too much Islamization taking place at the government level. In addition, the government, military, and other security forces have been accused of heavy-handed tactics in dealing with the Kurdish minority population. Now that Turkey is hoping to be considered for entry into the European Union, they have paid far more attention to their human rights record and are trying to clean up irregular activities or semblance that the government is involved in illegal activities against the Kurdish separatists, primarily the PKK .
In past conflicts with Kurdish separatists, the military and other security forces have been accused of involvement in extra-judicial killings, which have supposedly stopped. However, an incident late in 2005 caused many to question whether this is true. A bookstore allegedly owned by a former Kurdish guerrilla was attacked by grenades , and three men believed to be members of a paramilitary force were seized. While the three have denied the charges against them, one served under General Yasar Buyukanit , who praised his character. General Buyukanit is a prominent general in Turkey and is a possible candidate for the post of the Turkish military chief.
A leading Turkish prosecutor suggested that General Buyukanit is linked to some of these illegal activities in the Kurdish regions but cannot bring charges because he lacks jurisdiction in the case. The Prosecutor, perhaps rightly so, believes that the General is trying to interfere with the judicial proceedings. Some believe that the prosecutor is politically-motivated, trying to tarnish the General?s reputation, while others believe that he is trying to push for greater transparency, regarding errant activities by the military. Both government opposition politicians and the media believe the former motive because General Buyukanit has been a harsh critic of the current government. In order not to be seen as biased, the current Justice Minister has ordered an investigation of the accusations by the Prosecutor. It is interesting that such high level accusations have come out in the first place because that would have been unheard of in the past. If truly altruistic, this is a good step for transparency into the actions of all parts of the government. However, the trial of the alleged bombers of the bookstore could bring out some embarrassing facts, and both the Turkish government and paramilitary should be prepared to deal with the fall-out.