Transformation of civil-military relations in the period of AK Party government

Civil-military relations and democratic control of the military, as the main argument of liberal democracy, is one of the important issues discussed by political science circles and the academic world, and it is a concept that comes up frequently in every country, including developed countries. In reality, the fundamental basis for liberal democracy is that the armed forces are under the authority of civilian authorities. The armed forces in Turkey have carried out direct or indirect military interventions against this basic principle. The aim of this study is to determine the civil-military relations in Turkey by examining the coups and military interventions in the country, the aim is to reveal the transformation in civil-military relations, which expanded the field of civil politics, limited military autonomy and privileges, and questioned the permanence of the reforms implemented, especially with the radical military reforms carried out during the AK Party period. İn this study, firstly, the answer of how the civil-military relations are explained theoretically has been sought, then the historical course of civil-military relations in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey in the 19th century, the similarities, common points and common points of military interventions and coups. differences have been tried to be revealed. In the third place, internal and external dynamics that contribute positively or negatively to civil-military relations were questioned. Subsequently, institutions and legal bases that provide autonomy and privilege to the military in civil-military relations in the context of institutional dynamics are examined. Finally, by reviewing the civil-military relations in the AK Party period, the contribution of the radical military reforms to the democratic transformation of the army and the permanence of the reforms were tried to be determined For this study, a comprehensive literature review was conducted, and the books and reports written by scientists and research institutions specialized in civil-military relations, the results of the symposiums, and the master's and doctoral theses prepared in various universities were used. In addition, 23 decree laws (between 667 and 689) issued by the government under the state of emergency, the Constitutional Amendment with 18 articles adopted by the public vote on April 16, 2017, and the decrees issued by the Presidency after the transition to the Presidential Government System were examined in terms of the new legal regulations they brought to civil-military relations. The main result reached in this study; In the last period of Turkey, it can be said that the military-politics relations have undergone a radical transformation, the existing practices have changed, and the government has expanded its own political area while the army is withdrawing into its own field of duty. On the one hand, internal dynamics such as the structure of the government with a strong single-party leadership and the support of the public and the change experienced by the country, on the other hand, external dynamics such as international standards for democratization and demilitarization and the EU membership process seem to have been influential. Although the military's effectiveness in politics has been transformed according to the requirements of liberal democracy, the fact that the deep-rooted military reform process has not been carried out with the cooperation, dialogue and agreement of all stakeholders in the country, the military reform process and the democratization phase are not carried out simultaneously, and the EU process, which is one of the external dynamics that contributes to the civilian control of the army, has subsequently faded away. In the process, it has been concluded that democratic civilian control may adversely affect its permanence. İn order to establish a permanent and irreversible civil-military relationship in Turkey; It is necessary to reconcile the political will and the army on fundamental values, to solve the problem of the country's survival and security, to provide social consensus on the internal threat, to develop the democratic political culture and education level of the society, and to increase the level of welfare. Keywords: AK Party, Democracy, Army, Politics, Civil-Military Relations