Military resignations in protest against Erdogan: Ottoman politics destroys Turkish army

Nahla Abdel Moneim

The media has circulated news published by the Turkish opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet on August 25 about the torrent of resignations submitted by some army generals in protest against the policies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish newspaper pointed out that five generals initially submitted their resignation from the army because of what happened at the Military Shura Council meeting chaired by Erdogan in early August 2019, which took an hour and a half to determine the movement of promotions and transfers within the army.

Political army

Cumhuriyet acknowledged by following the recent movement within the army that Erdogan replaced the generals with lower ranks, most notably lieutenants, to lead some important operations and tasks, despite their young age and lack of experience.

This drew the attention of the local opposition media, as well as anger among the Turkish army, which questioned the seriousness of the new appointments that amounted to the appointment of 75 commanders of the ground forces, 25 commanders of the navy, and 27 commanders of the air force.

Retired Colonel Murat Tolga, who had been jailed for reasons deemed weak by the opposition newspaper, said the measures and policies pursued for years within the Turkish army were being destroyed in order to achieve political will and ensure the loyalty of army officers to Erdogan and his regime. Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Attila Kezak told the same paper that the early demobilization of generals and senior ranks within the army contributed to the erosion of military expertise and led to the use of younger elements to cover various tasks.

Erdogan used the failed coup on July 15, 2016 to abuse the army and his opponents in it. Swedish investigative website Nordic Monitor mentioned that the Turkish president demobilized 70% of the army leaders following this failed coup, in addition to the arrest of many police and government officials, on charges of joining Fethullah Gulen’s opposition movement. This is interpreted by researchers as a reconfiguration of the Turkish army in the style of the Brotherhood, for which Erdogan serves as the Turkish representative, and changing the national beliefs of the officers by confining them to Erdogan loyalists only.

Idlib conflict

Meanwhile, the most controversial part of the problem of resignations remains linked to the personality of the military elements who have declared their desire to retire from the army and what work was assigned to them. Major General Ahmed Arkan Korpachi and Brigadier General Erturul Salim were both commanders of the Turkish army in Idlib, but the other three were responsible for military forces on the border with Syria.

Given that the new appointments have seen some leaders step up to oversee some of the missions within those units in Syria, it is clear that the recent resignations may be an internal conflict in the ranks of the Turkish army and objections to its coloring policy, or rejection of the Erdogan methodology in Syria in light of the recent escalation by Syrian forces in Khan Sheikhoun in the Idlib countryside against the Turkish presence of HTS elements and terrorists, which hinders the liberation of Syria from extremist groups.

Rejected policies

Sameh Jarhi, a professor of political science at Cairo University specialized in Turkish and Iranian affairs, said these resignations reflect the general position within the Turkish army, which rejects Erdogan’s expansionist foreign policies. The exhaustion caused by these policies depleting the Turkish army in wars is unnecessary and unpopular, along with the inclusion of military elements in conflicts and wars with the Kurds and inside Syria and the establishment of military bases in Qatar and Somalia, affecting the state’s economy and internal development.

Jarhi said that the other side of these resignations proves the military leaders’ rejection of Erdogan’s policy of promoting loyalists, preferring loyal people over people of expertise, which harms the efficiency of the Turkish army.