Turkey picks new military boss

Armed forces chief Ilker Basbug expected to avoid open confrontation with Islamic-rooted ruling party

Turkey’s land forces commander Ilker Basbug (foreground, center) follows a military guard at the mausoleum of modern Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk along with top military commanders in Ankara, last Friday. Basbug has been appointed new head of the armed forces.

ANKARA (Combined reports) – Land forces commander Ilker Basbug has been appointed head of Turkey’s powerful armed forces. He is touted as a hawkish general who is expected to avoid open confrontation with the Islamist-rooted governing Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The General Staff said in a statement yesterday Basbug would take charge of NATO’s second-biggest army on August 30 from retiring General Yasar Buyukanit, who has often clashed openly with the government.

The move comes as Turkey, a key US ally, hopes to put behind it a long power struggle between the powerful secularist establishment, including generals and judges, and the AKP.

“He’s a commander with great discipline and experience at NATO,” said Necati Ozgen, a former Turkish army general who worked with Basbug at the Turkish military academy in the late 1970s. “No tolerance should be expected from him in the fight against the terrorists.”

“Unlike the often impulsive incumbent Buyukanit, Basbug is known for his cool and calculating nature,” said Wolfango Piccoli, an analyst at political-risk think tank Eurasia Group.

“The result will be less likelihood of abrupt escalations in civil-military tension, but at the same time more effective political pressure from the military,” he said.

Turkey’s highest court on Wednesday rejected an attempt by a chief prosecutor to shut down the AKP but imposed financial penalties on it for anti-secular activities.

Turkey, predominantly Muslim, has a secular constitution, and the military considers itself the ultimate guardian of the republic founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Hardline secularists accuse the Justice and Development Party of harboring a hidden Islamist agenda by seeking to ease restrictions on religion in public life, such as its failed attempt to ease a ban on Muslim headscarves at universities.

“Basbug... is regarded as one of the most outstanding officers of his generation, combining a strong intellect with a deep commitment to Turkish secularism. Basbug, who will occupy the post for the next two years, is likely to prove a formidable opponent for the AKP,” Piccoli said.

Basbug’s appointment was announced along with a flurry of other promotions and retirements after the annual meeting of Turkey’s Higher Military Council, chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Board decisions will be sent to President Abdullah Gul for approval.

Paramilitary gendarmerie commander General Isik Kosaner, also considered a hawk, takes over the land forces command. (Reuters, AP)

ANKARA (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Turkey next week to discuss his country’s disputed nuclear program and growing bilateral ties, a Turkish official told Reuters yesterday.

Ahmadinejad will hold talks with President Abdullah Gul during his one-day working visit to Istanbul on August 14, which comes after months of lobbying by Tehran.

Turkey has offered to help resolve a dispute between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear program, which Western powers fear is aimed at producing atomic weapons. “We are trying to help make Iran and Western countries understand each other well. We view this high-level visit as an opportunity for the role we play,” the official, who declined to be named, said.