Turkish military reorganizing itself against terror

[TheCommander]

11 November 2012 / EMRE SONCAN , ANKARA
The Turkish military is extensively restructuring itself in an attempt to increase its effectiveness in the fight against terrorism and to deter the threats of the 21st century, which vary from asymmetric threats to energy security and cyber warfare.

All eyes have turned to the ongoing work at the General Staff after President Abdullah Gül said last week that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is restructuring itself. Referring to a ground operation against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Gül told the public: “The TSK is restructuring itself in the anti-terrorism fight. We have the right to take all necessary [military] precautions. We do not have an eye on the territory of any country, but if we are the target of acts of terror coming from another country and if that country is unable to stop those acts, then we have the right to take necessary measures.”

The military is engaged in a series of changes in attempts to strengthen its hand against “foreign threats” rather than the TSK's concept of a “domestic threat,” a notion the military used for many years to refer to acts of religious conservatism. According to the new military concept, the TSK will concentrate on threats coming from foreign sources and discontinue speaking about a domestic threat.

The restructuring of the Turkish military is being coordinated and led by Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel.

Özel seeks to modernize the military in terms of technology and economy, according to military sources. The chain of command will be more dynamic and functional, according to the military chief's plans. Military commanders responsible for anti-terror operations will be forced to coordinate the operations onsite, rather than from the General Staff headquarters, and they will be granted broader authority during the coordination of military operations. For instance, they will not be obliged to communicate with the General Staff for any action they are planning to take during the operations. The existing principle of granting the permission of the General Staff in operation leads the military to lose time and eventually failure in operations.

In addition, the General Staff plans to gradually decrease the number of military staff. Yet, the decrease will not cause a loss of power for the military. Turkey has the second biggest armed forces within NATO after the US, with about 800,000 personnel. With its current structure, the TSK gives the impression that it is lagging behind, while the armies of other NATO member countries have completed their transformation into smaller but more mobile forces, able to efficiently thwart today's threats.

Under the overhaul, the General Staff also hopes to allocate a greater budget for modernization and weapons development projects. In this way, the TSK will have greater chance to deal with projects to produce unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), national tanks, submarines, helicopters, frigates and warplanes.

The government allocated around TL 17 billion to defense in 2011, and around TL 12 was spent on military staff costs and fuel, transportation, nutrition and accommodation. The TSK's modernization projects were only able to receive TL 3.5 billion from the defense budget.

The General Staff believes the major overhaul will bring it victory in its anti-terror fight. Turkey has been tackling the issue of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorism for over 30 years, failing to eradicate it so far. More than 40,000 people, including civilians and members of the military, have been killed to date in clashes between the military and PKK terrorists.

A ground operation is under way against PKK hideouts in northern Iraq. Turkish soldiers crossed the Turkish-Iraqi border last week and went five kilometers into northern Iraqi territory to carry out an operation against PKK terrorists and returned to Turkey after completing the operation. No official statement has been released by the General Staff about the operation, but news sources say at least 50 PKK terrorists were killed.

The General Staff also plans to allow the military to benefit more from technology so that its hand will be stronger against terrorist groups. As part of its plans, the General Staff has decided to purchase technological devices it believes to strengthen the military against the PKK from foreign countries. The item that tops the list of such devices is UAVs. Turkey now has 13 such vehicles, but plans to return three of them to Israel because they do not work for a while and Israeli officials decline to provide technical support.


Turkish military reorganizing itself against terror