In Turkey, the military is viewed as a guarantor of popular democratic values, and modernity. It has intervened in Turkish politics in the past fifty years four times to topple popularly elected governments who were deemed “islamicist” or appeared to have radical tendencies.

The current government is also feared to harbour similar Islamic fundamentalist leanings. It has, however, wide spread popular support which has aided it in its long political struggle with the Turkish military. That struggle was recently escalated when the former heads of the Turkish navy, army and air-force were arrested along with fifty other former and currently serving military officers in connection with charges of plotting a coup.

The extraordinary decision by the current government to directly confront the military establishment may indicate that the authority of the armed forces is on the wane. If so, would that mean that their role as guarantor of secular values in this country would also be undermined? (For observers of Israeli politics, it may be interesting to note that the current Turkish government has moved away from what were historically close ties to Israel – as evidenced by a number of high profile diplomatic flare-ups. Such a move obviously would endear Turkey to the arabic world.)

Observers of the situation have noted that the recent high drama is unprecedented in modern Turkish history.