Sukru Kucuksahin: Battles Buyukanit faces
Güncelleme Tarihi:
In the government process of appointing General Yasar Buyukanit to the head of the Turkish military's General Staff, the incidents in Semdinli were a turning point. There was pressure put on the administration by some inside intelligence sources who did not want to see Buyukanit in this office. But the doubts brought about these pressures seemed to disappear following the breakfast meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Buyukanit on March 24. And then the attack on the Council of State occured, an event which appeared to confuse minds in the administration further.
The difficulties facing Buyukanit
In the end, the administration, headed by Erdogan, did the right thing, and rose above this difficult period. And now, the really difficult test lies before Buyukanit. He faces a tough period, where he will no doubt be stuck between the Turkish Armed Forces, nationalist factions which have pinned their hopes on him, and the government itself.
Buyukanit is a general with vision, flexibility, and a character that leans toward change, and he expressed this on his first day as head of the armed forces:
"Turkey is a country which can defeat every kind of difficulty. Let no one underestimate Turkey. Let's believe in ourselves, Turkey can succeed at everything."
Buyukanit always stresses first and foremost "I trust in myself and my country."
He tells political Islamicists and nationalists who complain that the country will be divided in its quest to join the EU, "Get rid of this paranoia. Turkey is not a coumtry which will be either occupied by outside forces or will close in on itself."
Buyukanit is neither on a hawkish route nor anti-EU route.