People gather at Konak Square against military coup attempt, in Izmir, Turkey, July 20, 2016. Picture by Depo Photos/ABACA/PA Images. All rights reserved. Military culture refers to a combination of specific ethoi that shape the military’s institutional behaviour toward inside and outside stimulants including politics. These ethoi can be norms, values, beliefs, ideals and political ideologies that are shaped by historical experiences, geopolitical vulnerabilities, religious as well as national concerns that show themselves through martial rituals, symbols, discourse, formal statements and eventually actions. In the civil-military literature, military culture has recently increased its importance as an effective variable to explain civil-military relations.
In this regard, it is generally accepted that Turkish military culture is deeply embedded in the secularism principle of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (the founder of the Turkish state). Although the modern Turkey, as the successor of theocratic Ottoman monarchy, was founded as a western-orientated secular state by Atatürk, religion and religious class still maintained their influential position, especially in rural areas and villages. This provided a major advantage to the right wing parties which traditionally present themselves as more sensitive to religious values. Indeed, starting from the Democrat Party (1950-1960), the right wing parties began to tolerate Islamist movements and created suitable conditions for Islamists to institutionalize themselves under religious brotherhoods. Over the years, the anti-secular groups became more effective by actively getting involved in politics under political Islam.
At this point, the Turkish military, which formally considered secularism a vital tool for the survival of the Turkish Republic, appeared as the main deterrent and coercive force against political Islam. This deterrence, indeed, caused the military to topple elected governments four times in 1960, 1971, 1980 and 1997, by claiming responsibility for preserving the secular nature of the regime. Additionally, by creating the necessary legal mechanisms to supervise politics, the military got directly involved in the decision making process. The National Security Council which was founded by the military during the 1960 junta, became a military dominated supreme body that reviews whether governmental decisions are against secularism or not.
