Turkey’s Historic Civilian-Military Power Shift

A day after his country's top four generals collectively resigned, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said that the annual meeting of the Supreme Military Council will be held as planned on Aug. 1. The government, led by the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, has moved cautiously in its second term to weaken the military's political power. The generals who resigned knew they were playing a weak hand in their attempt to cause a crisis in the civilian government as a norm of accepting civilian supremacy over the military is beginning to take root in Turkey.