Recent arrests of high ranking servicemen in Turkey accused of coup d'etat attempt signal of significant changes in the country and militaries will no more play dominant role. This might assist strengthening of Turkish democracy, if the government and judicial officials follow the letter of law, The New York Times reads.

For modern Turkey's history the army had been dominant and willing to use any means to keep Turkey a secular, Western-oriented state including disseat of 4 democratically elected leaders since 1960. In 2007, the servicemen tried to hinder the election of Abdullah Gul of the Islamic-influenced Justice and Development Party (AKP) as president reasoning that his spouse wears hijab. The officers reckon that political life weakened considerably under AKP rule and pressure from the European Union, insisting that as part of Ankara's bid for membership, the military must hold more responsibility to civilian leaders, the source says.

The recent detentions and arrests followed an article in Taraf independent paper that said about military documents from 2003 meeting with description of coup staging. The servicemen admitted the meeting but insisted it was focused on protecting the country from external not domestic, threats. Since the arrests, the military's top leaders have shown welcome restraint. Meanwhile, relations with the U.S. hit new course on March 4, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed resolution on Armenian genocide. “We think the resolution was unnecessary, just as Ankara's denial of that tragedy is self-destructive. Instead of threatening Washington with retaliation for the vote, Ankara should focus on getting a normalization deal with Armenia back on track. The U.S. and other Western countries need to keep nudging Turkey forward while keeping the hope of E.U. membership alive and credible,” The New York Times writes.

Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan needs to restrain his autocratic tendencies and seek to replace the military-imposed constitution with the one stipulating rights for Kurds and other national minorities, freedom of religion and press, a commitment to secular rule and jural courts, the source concludes.

S.T.