This political diagnosis is a very complex and difficult one.

Submitted by Isaac Haskiya (Denmark), Apr 7, 2009 at 03:58

Fifty years ago I was a reserve officer in the Turkish Army. In those times all the officers supported the "Kemalist" doctrine as Turkey being a national sovereign and secular state with democratic principles such as elections.

I am sure that a majority of today´s officers ranking above a colonel have been trained in the same spirit. The army is the guarantor of the modern Turkish State. There should be very little doubt about it. The people are Muslims. The party in majority is an "islamizing" party that might not fully enjoy the support of the Army. There are tensions between the two.

A lot of things have changed in Turkey during these last fifty years but I do not think that the principles of the Army have changed. Nato or not, the EU or not, Turkey is neither East or West and should maintain that position.

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