Society’s view of the military is changing, but…

This year in August the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) witnessed a first in its history when the chief of the General Staff and the force commanders resigned together. It was the end of the effort of the civilian authority to take control of the military that had started August 2010. A survey that was conducted after these developments was published last week.

The survey is part of the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey’s (TÜBITAK) 1001 Research Projects and was organized by Associate Professor Yaprak Gürsoy from Bilgi University and Associate Professor Zeki Sarıgül from Bilkent University, while the field research was done by KONDA, an independent research company. It was conducted via face-to-face interviews with 2,775 people from 27 provinces, 106 districts, and 154 randomly selected neighborhoods and villages.

I have summarized the most striking results of the survey below. You will draw your own conclusions after reading them.

 - Society’s view of the military is changing compared to previous times. At the same time, contradictions in the responses still stand out: The TSK is trusted but there is a visible increase in those who do not want the army to be involved in politics.

 - Trust of the police has also increased to a great extend compared to the past.

 - Even though the majority want Turkey to be ruled by democracy, the number of people who think the military can take over ruling the country whenever necessary is still not to be underestimated. Despite that, those who say that the TSK’s influence over politics and the government has lessened have steadily increased.

In short, it has been accepted that the influence of the military has decreased given the powerful government of today but the trust for politicians is not at a desirable level.

Enough, let go of Özal

We love to manage urban legends and pass away the time following empty claims. Well, one of these is that former President Turgut Özal did not die of a heart failure but, on the contrary, was the victim of an assassination due to a secret conspiracy.
All the doctors, first and foremost Cengiz Aslan, Özal’s doctor for years who has been very close to him and meticulously monitored the events surrounding his death starting from the moment he died to the time he was taken to hospital say the death occurred because of heart failure.
But, NO, by listing extremely funny coincidences, they are still doing assassination research. Those, even though they know the truth, primarily the family, want to keep the topic alive. It is difficult to understand why. Moreover, it is obvious that even the prosecutors who are investigating the case do not believe the assassination hypothesis.
The outcome will be publicized soon. It will be stated that there is no hint of an assassination and that the death occurred of heart failure.
From now on, let’s leave President Özal in peace.
[HH] Israel against Nihat Doğan
I would have thought of all kinds of conspiracies but never would it have occurred to me that Israel would prepare a major conspiracy against Nihat Doğan. You may remember that TV personality Doğan and İzzet Yıldızhan were caught partying with call girls at a hotel room in Ankara. It seems that the whole incident was a conspiracy. It was prepared by Israeli secret agents. The person who disclosed this big game to the public was Doğan himself on Fatih Altaylı’s show, “Teke Tek.”
What has surprised me more is that Israel has taken this statement seriously and said, “We have nothing to do with this.”
We are facing a situation beyond a joke.
Altaylı is absolutely right. To those who criticized him, saying “Why do you put all these kinds of weird people on your show,” he answered, “Guys, as long as you watch him and listen to what he says, he will be on my show however quaint he may be.”
Doğan knows how to attract society’s attention. Nobody believes what he says, moreover they make fun of him, but they continue watching him. As long as this controversy exists, we will continue watching the adventures of Nihat Doğan.