The Interior Ministry has announced that the Protocol on Cooperation for Security and Public Order (EMASYA), which has been harshly criticized for allowing the military to conduct operations and intelligence gathering in cities without the approval of the civilian administration, has finally been quashed.
The announcement came on Thursday from Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, who has been coordinating governmental efforts to get rid of the controversial document. He said he had a meeting with Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ earlier this week in order to abolish EMASYA.
“We have made the decision to abolish the protocol. Lt. Gen. Mehmet Ersöz, the head of the General Staff's Operations Department, and Interior Ministry Undersecretary Osman Güneş have signed off on the decision, which has been circulated to the General Staff and all governor's offices,” he said.
The move was fervently welcomed by analysts and observers who spoke to Today's Zaman. “I see no harm in the abolishment of EMASYA. It was an unnecessary protocol. Its demise will not harm our country's security,” stated Mahir Kaynak, a terror and intelligence specialist. The controversial protocol was signed by the General Staff and the Interior Ministry on July 7, 1997 and empowers the military to intervene in social incidents on its own initiative. EMASYA gave the military the authority to gather intelligence against internal threats. Although the protocol has been severely criticized by politicians and analysts over the years, it has remained in force. Reşat Petek, a retired chief public prosecutor, underlined that the cancellation of the protocol was a necessity for a country governed by the rule of law.
“The Constitution and other laws prevail in a country governed by the rule of law. However, EMASYA was signed after the Feb. 28 [1997] postmodern coup between the General Staff and the Interior Ministry. It enabled the armed forces to intervene in social incidents without a directive from a governor's office. It contradicts both the Law on Provincial Administrations and related legislation,” Petek remarked.
EMASYA is believed to be a product of the Feb. 28 coup, during which the military overthrew the coalition government led by Necmettin Erbakan of the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP).
Petek also recalled that the protocol was used as an excuse by a wing of the armed forces to make preparations for a military takeover. “The abolition of EMASYA was a must for Turkey,” he added.
Debates over EMASYA flared up last month after a retired general confessed to having drafted an alleged military plan to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government in accordance with the protocol. The plan, titled the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) Security Operation Plan, includes a subversive TSK plot to take control of the country through a series of violent acts.
The retired prosecutor, however, warned that the move against the protocol would not eradicate the impact of military tutelage in Turkey. Unless civilian bodies take the necessary steps to fully eliminate military tutelage in the country, Turkey will not escape illegal and anti-democratic initiatives in the future, according to Petek.
The move against EMASYA came shortly after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan publicly vowed to do away with the covert protocol. In a televised interview with journalists on Sunday, the prime minister pledged to take all the required steps -- both legal and administrative -- to eliminate EMASYA. “No such thing as the EMASYA protocol can exist. We are taking the necessary steps to abolish it. We will conclude our work to that end soon. This is a protocol, not a law. We will make legal changes if necessary to abolish the protocol,” he said.
Similarly, President Abdullah Gül stated earlier this week that the country no longer needs the protocol and it should be voided.
In addition, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ told a Turkish daily that the protocol could be eliminated as Turkey does not need it.
“The protocol may be abolished. There is no need for it. The law gives [the military] necessary authority,” the military chief stated during an interview with a group of journalists from the Hürriyet daily.
The military chief also expressed reluctance about intervening in social incidents. “No army would want to intervene in social incidents. What army would like to challenge the public? Would we [the TSK] like this idea? Surely not,” he stated.
According to Altan Tan, a Kurdish writer and intellectual, the government was far too late in getting rid of the document. “The protocol had many negative impacts on society. The military should not be authorized [to interfere in social incidents] in a country ruled under a civilian administration. We have governors and other civilian authorities. Members of the military should function under those authorities,” he remarked.
Haşim Haşimi, a former deputy, said the abolishment of the covert document was a democratic requirement for Turkey.
“The protocol still being in force did not conform to democratic principles. The person responsible for order in a province should be the governor. This is the case worldwide. Turkey made bad decisions for security reasons in the past. Some chronic problems remain unsolved due to those decisions,” he complained.
