Instrumentalising the army before elections in Turkey

Abstract

This paper argues that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has instrumentalised the Turkish army by conducting military operations in the run-up to elections. Although ending military tutelage has been interpreted in other countries as a sign of the professionalisation of the army, in Turkey it has done the opposite: the civilianisation discourse and civilian hegemony over military institutions have led to the instrumentalisation of the army. I demonstrate that the number of military operations significantly increased in the lead-up to elections, which strongly indicates the extent of instrumentalisation. Previous studies have primarily focused on the army’s praetorian role, neglecting the instrumentalisation process in which the military is engaged. This paper analyses the operational aspect of the army and introduces the concept of instrumentalisation. I contend that the cessation of military tutelage in Turkey has resulted in the securitisation of both society and politics. The failed coup in 2016, the double elections of 2015, and the heightened interest in the defence sector during election periods provide strong grounds for examining the instrumentalisation hypothesis.

Keywords:

• Civil–military relations
• AKP
• terrorism
• conflict
• elections

Acknowledgements

I thank the anonymous reviewers for the excellent peer-review process. I also acknowledge the immense support of the Institute for Humane Studies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Huseyin Zengin

Huseyin Zengin is currently Visiting Lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests are political violence, civil–military relations, and democratisation. His work has appeared in Democratization, Research & Politics, Studies in Comparative International Development and Mediterranean Politics.