Civilian oversight of the armed forces: Turkey, USA and France cases

The control of the armed forces by civilians has been considered an important issue for societies throughout history. It was only after the second half of the 1900s that the issue was dealt with scientifically and theories were put forward on this issue. The first studies on the civilian control of the military were carried out in the USA. In Turkey, it has begun to take steps on civilian control of the military since the early 2000s. The first steps taken in this regard have emerged as civilianization and democratization efforts. On July 15, 2016, FETO terrorist organization has tried to carry out a coup by the hand of extensions that have infiltrated the army in Turkey. After this failed coup attempt, a series of legal and structural changes were made in the country. Some of these changes include regulations on civilian control of the armed forces. The purpose of this thesis is to reveal to what extent these changes made after July 15 are compatible with the practices of democratic countries. The USA and France are the countries that are chosen for the comparison with the changes in Turkey. The preferred countries are the members of two different legal and administrative systems: Anglo-Saxon and Continental. Also these two countries have similar management system with Turkey's that have started to be implemented as of the 2018 Presidential System. In addition, during the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, having taken the example of France in the administrative structure has also been decisive in the country's election. In the study involving the use of comparative analysis, Turkey is considered as divided into the two periods: before July 15 and after. In the study, segmentation is made according to the actors who have authority over the civilian control of the armed forces. The parliament, the executive, the judiciary and the public, which are authorized in this field, have been handled as separate sections, and the countries were examined after the general information was made at the introduction of each section. The main finding of the study is that the changes made in the field of civilian control of the armed forces after 15 July are in line with the practices of democratic countries. Keywords: Civilian control of the military, Civil-military relations, Public audit, Parliamentary control, Execution control, Turkey, USA, France.