Işık Koşaner new Chief of General Staff

General Işık Koşaner is the 27^th chief of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Koşaner is the successor of İlker Başbuğ who held the position for the last two years.

In his inaugural speech held on 28 August, Koşaner emphasized his position as facing psychological operations of the army. Koşaner counted the risks of the region Turkey belongs to as "extreme nationalism, religious fundamentalism, terrorism and ethnic and sectarian conflicts". He said that he was close to the media. He ignored pluralism by saying that a common language provides one of the national prerequisites and that the "unitarian state guarantees to prevent the creation of minorities". Read some section of Koşaner's speech as follows:

Kurdish question, democratic autonomy, PKK: Legal precautions to make the struggle [against the Kurdistan Workers Party PKK] easier could not be taken because of the sensitive balance between security and freedom. Accordingly, all sorts of improvements of individual rights and freedoms were perceived as a right gained through the organization. Due to the freedom provided by law, terrorists are able to live among the people. For the security forces it becomes more difficult day by day to distinguish the innocent people from terrorists.

Efficient legal measures must be taken quickly against the attempt to establish a second structure of power in the country. The Iraqi central government and the regional [Kurdish] administration have to take effective measures against the terror organization [PKK] nested in northern Iraq as soon as possible. The support provided by some European countries to the organization and its members should be prevented. It is important to further ensure the authority of the Turkish Armed Forces for operations in Northern Iraq.

Solving the problem of terrorism is only possible as a nation state and a unitary state. The individual rights and freedoms provided by democracy and the state of law, the concept of a nation state, the unitary structure, our integrity and our security cannot be used by threatening these values. That cannot be tolerated.

Message to the media to be more careful: it is the inevitable obligation of the media to obtain information about actions of the Turkish Armed Forces and to inform the public. Thus, it is a basic principle to communicate information concerned with the Turkish Armed Forces to the media channels and the public in a correct manner and at the right time. Correct news and constructive criticism by the media will always be carefully examined. Nobody can say anything against correct news and unbiased criticism. In fact, this is also necessary.

Of course, the press is independent and cannot be censored. Nobody can object to that. What is expected of the press is that it is really independent. News related to the Turkish Armed Forces in particular, some media bodies intentionally or unintentionally gave wrong information to the public and made comments and evaluations that were not compatible with the truth. We are watching this with sorrow and concern.

According to the TSK, press freedom means the freedom of dropping unfounded news and refraining from misleading the public, from provocation and making the public worry. By voicing certain thoughts and targeting the structure and the basic values of the Turkish Armed Forces, those people unnecessarily create worries with their striving for "transformation" under the excuse of "change".

It is the common proceeding of media bodies to accept the truth of a claim related to the Turkish armed forces in the first place without thinking about its accuracy or without feeling the need to review it. Even though this is not a criminal offence in terms of law, this proceeding is not in line with ethic values.

Even though some media bodies are not concerned with ethic values, we expect the respected other media institutions to be a bit more accurate and careful with their news and comments.

Change within the TSK, professional army: Koşaner said that the TSK was subject to constant change and development according to the needs. However, he distanced himself from a "professional army".

Investigations should yield results: Koşaner emphasized his strong wish for an immediate clarification of facts regarding investigations and prosecutions of retired and active members of the Turkish armed forces. (TK/VK)