ORGENERAL YAŞAR BÜYÜKANIT Commander of Turkish Armed Forces
THE REACTIONARY THREAT STARTED AT THE MOMENT TURKISH REPUBLIC WAS FOUNDED AND IS STILL ALIVE.
	During my career of almost a half century, I have witnessed many regional and worldwide changes as a member of the Turkish Army. We still experience many changes. I have evaluated and I’m still evaluating such changes, from the point of view of my rank
Of course our evaluations are also influenced by the changes within Turkey. This period is marked by separatist terror and reactionary activities. We need a healthy evaluation of all these effects to look at the future of this Republic founded by Atatürk. Let us be clear, we can’t escape from the facts. Because they exist. Looking at our world, particularly from the security standpoint, it is obvious that all security concepts are seriously changing and this is a fact. When I was a young officer, during my mission in NATO, these concepts were simple and one directional: there was a NATO and a Warsaw Treaty. But this is not the case today. I want to make a comparison. During 70’s, There was a balanced two-poled world, US wasn’t ever attacked in its own continent, The two Iraki wars within a short period was still to come, The events happened in Irak which are so critical for the future of Turkey hadn’t happened, The situation in Middle East, Balkans, Caucasian region and Iran was not so ambiguous, Cyprus, which is of a vital importance for Turkey, has never been subject to so many discussions, except the year 1974, Furthermore, the undivisible integrity of Turkey has never been discussed to the extent they are discussed today. I’m sorry to state this and I want to emphasize a fact. The Republic of Turkey has never been face to face to so many threats at the same time. The Unitarian structure of Turkey has never been attacked to that extent. The Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular, social stale of law. It’s obvious that our society will come over the instability and the crisis of confidence, when united around a common denominator including these values. During the last years, there had been too many discussions about the role of the army in Turkey. If such discussions are made with good will and on the basis of objective criteria, we would understand them and even get profit of such evaluations. But these evaluations are judgmental, some financed by foreign governments and made on order and the information contained therein are correct and the purpose such unscientific evaluations are only to mislead the society. Of course, Turkish Army is not and shouldn’t be interested in domestic politics. In our understanding and according to laws, the army has four basic tasks: At first, to train the recruited forces and make them ready for the war, Secondly, to defend the country against external threats and to protect the interests of the country, Thirdly, to fight against all parties aiming to terminate the unitary structure of the country, including terrorists, And finally, to defend the basic principles of the Republic, as mentioned in the first three Articles of the Constitution. In our understanding, none of these four tasks are related with the domestic politics and we are given them by laws. I know that many people and press members would like to know what I think about the irrational, immoral and illegal attacks meant to my personality. The only think I want to say that our nations know the evil enemies of out Republic and our army and I believe that they are going to be brought before Turkish courts. Turkish Army is working hard to adapt itself to the requirements of our time and to prepare itself to the future. We are meticulously following up our plans and programs for the future. Today, technological qualities are more important than the size of the army. That’s why modernization projects are privileged. I’ll follow up these modernization projects. Our goal is to become a more powerful army. The army is not merely to fight. It is also the guarantor of the peace. A dissuasive army dissuades enemies. I also want to express my ideas about some common concerns and expectations that I observe in our country. 1. Today there is a threat of separatist terror grounded on ethnical nationalism. The Republic of Turkey will defeat this threat. 2. Some people state that the Republic of Turkey will face a new Treaty of Sevres. But I don't think that there is such a power able to impose a Treaty of Sevres to Turkey. 3. I want to say the same thing for the reactionary threat. The reactionary threat started at the moment Turkish Republic was founded and is still alive. As I already mentioned. The basic principles of our Republic stated in our Constitution are our reason of existence and we can’t escape from our responsibilities. 4. Another point is Cyprus. We have an important military power in Cyprus. We will not retreat from Cyprus unless a permanent and fair peace is established. This is our state policy. 5. The last point is the military service. There will be no paid military service in the near future.