US embassy cable - 03ANKARA4804

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004804 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY: PARLIAMENT TAKES UP CONTROVERSIAL NSC 
REFORM 
 
REF: ANKARA 4544 
 
 
(U) Classified by Acting Political Counselor Nicholas S. 
Kass.  Reason:1.5(b)(d) 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: Parliament July 30 -- two days before the 
legislative recess -- began debating the AK Government's 7th 
EU reform-related package, which deals with in part 
controversial changes to the powerful National Security 
Council and the NSC Secretariat.  The package may be voted 
late July 30.  Most observers expect the package to pass 
muster, but we caution that it is not yet in the bag.  End 
summary. 
 
 
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Press 
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2. (C) The most notable NSC-related features of the 
34-article package include the following provisions: 1) the 
NSC SecGen will be assigned by the prime minister with the 
approval of the president; 2) the NSC shall meet every two 
months, or at the discretion of the prime minister or 
president; 3) making the NSC agenda and procedures/guidelines 
presumably less peremptory by removing the second sentence of 
Turkish constitution Art. 118 para. 3, which currently 
requires the cabinet to "evaluate decisions of the NSC 
concerning the measures it deems necessary for the 
preservation of the existence and independence of the State, 
the integrity and indivisibility of the country, and the 
peace and security of society." 
 
 
3. (U) July 30 press coverage highlights a "harsh" de facto 
open letter from current (and outgoing) NSC SecGen Gen. 
Tuncer Kilinc, a noted hard-liner, to President Sezer and 
P.M. Erdogan claiming that the AK Government's plan to 
"civilianize" the NSC bureaucracy will "politicize" the 
national security policy formation process.  "You will make 
the NSC dysfunctional" and undermine national security, 
Kilinc charged.  The General also dismissed the notion of 
appointing a civilian to the head the NSC General 
Secretariat, even a senior ambassador; he pointedly suggested 
 
SIPDIS 
that Erdogan might as well assign a mid-level interior 
ministry bureaucrat (kaymakam) to the post.  Kilinc also 
reportedly emphasized the necessity of protecting the current 
(military-dominated) NSC structure.  Related reporting ties 
the letter to the upcoming meeting of the Supreme Military 
Council (YAS), at which Kilinc and others will presumably be 
retired. 
 
 
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Parliamentary Views 
------------------- 
 
 
4. (C) Moments before heading to the floor for the debate, AK 
Yozgat M.P. Mehmet Erdemir told us that he is uncertain as to 
how the vote actually will go.  He said that AK "is under 
major pressure" from unspecified quarters.  On July 29, AK 
Erzurum M.P. Ibrahim Ozdogan offered to us privately that the 
reform package represents a positive development in 
redressing the civilian-military imbalance -- "you have to 
start somewhere," he said -- while emphasizing that the value 
of the package would be largely symbolic.  Indeed, he 
asserted that by itself the reforms will do little to change 
the situation; he noted in particular that AK's plan to bring 
the military budget under civilian control has been 
essentially hamstrung by confining investigations to secret 
deliberations by the unelected Court of Accounts (Sayistay) 
rather than to direct, and more open, parliamentary 
oversight. 
 
 
5. (C) In a separate private meeting with us July 30, 
opposition CHP M.P. Halil Akyuz (Istanbul -- a member of the 
Foreign Affairs Committee) said his party will support the 
package as currently configured.  CHP's primary objection, he 
said, is that AK continues to bring packages to the floor, 
thereby putting CHP in the politically awkward position of 
having to declare itself on AK's side repeatedly. 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
Selcuk's Legal/Political Analysis 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
6. (C) On July 29, Sami Selcuk, former President of the High 
Court of Appeals and a leading reformist voice, expressed to 
us sentiments similar to Ozdogan's: while sounding a positive 
note, he cautioned against expecting immediate, comprehensive 
change in civilian-military relations as a result of the 
current package.  Selcuk linked the reform issue and the YAS 
meeting, noting that the YAS presented a major opportunity 
for Turkey -- if TGS Chief Ozkok, whom he described as more 
democratically-inclined than most of the other senior 
commanders, could succeed in putting a new stamp on the 
military leadership. 
 
 
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Comment 
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7. (C) The package on the floor has been somewhat diluted 
(reftel), which presumably would make it less controversial 
and easier to pass through Parliament.  However, Erdemir's 
cautionary note is worth keeping in mind -- as is the fact 
that Kilinc's letter reportedly went not only to Erdogan but 
to a president: 1) interested in maintaining Establishment 
equities; and 2) habituated to blocking AK legislative and 
other changes. 
DEUTSCH