Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan responds to the criticism by Brussels and intends to limit the powers of the state army. Hereafter, the servicemen are deprived of using force without permission of civil offices.

Thus, Erdogan initiates further steps towards the restriction of Turkish armed forces' rights. In his TV interview given earlier, he stated that will abolish the protocol of 1997, under which in case of domestic crisis state army is eligible of taking drastic measures without permission of state civil offices, German Der Spiegel weekly reports.

The mentioned document was repeatedly scalped by EU for vesting armed forces with domestic power, which conflicts with European norms. In last years political powers of Turkish army were limited, however official Brussels reckons that further steps should be taken in this direction, as the country strives to join EU.
According to Der Spiegel, in their turn Turkish armed forces feel themselves like “minions of Turkish republic's secular values” and are suspicious of religious-conservative office of Erdogan.

S.T.