Jean-Louis BALANS - The Military and Politics in Turkey: a Democracy Under Watch

Pouvoirs n°115 - La Turquie - novembre 2005 - p.55-72

For more than forty years, politics in Turkey has been characterized by repeated interventions of the military and a strict supervision of democratic institutions. The political power of the army can be explained by the malfunctioning of a pluralist democracy that it has never considered as a major necessity of the Kemalist modernization process. It also has historical roots firmly established in collective memory and it benefits from a strong social legitimacy. The growing tension between a centralized state and a civil society more and more reluctant to accept any ideological control, may find a solution in the changes produced by the European membership candidacy. The redefinition of the relationship between the army and civil power is well under way, but the military will retain a major influence in the country. Résumé

Référence électonique : Jean-Louis BALANS , "The Military and Politics in Turkey: a Democracy Under Watch", Pouvoirs, revue française d’études constitutionnelles et politiques, n°115, 2005, p.55-72. Consulté le 17-02-2012. URL : http://www.revue-pouvoirs.fr/The-Military-and-Politics-in.html