Deconstructing the Turkish Military's Popularity

Abstract

Why is the military so popular in Turkish society? By using World Values Survey data, this study explores the impact of several political, social, and personal factors on societal confidence in the military. Empirical results indicate that there is a significant variance in confidence in the military across certain political groups. Although the military's popularity is high among nationalists, it is rather limited among pro-Islamic and pro-Kurdish groups. Interestingly, however, religion cuts both ways in the formation of confidence in the military. Pro-Islamic groups do not have much confidence in the strictly secular military, but being a devout Muslim does not reduce the military's popularity. Another interesting finding is that trust in civilians and support for democracy do not necessarily reduce military's popularity. A brief discussion of some implications of these findings for the civil-military relations and prospects for the consolidation of democracy in the Turkish Republic is also provided.

Someone to watch over me: Exposure to war events and trust in the armed forces in Israel as factors in war-related stress

“…Our results showed that even after controlling for sense of danger, women still reported higher levels of stress related symptoms, which may in turn be associated with less trust in Medicine, Conflict and Survival 149 those providing protection. Another explanation may be the traditional division of social roles, associating men with more invested identification with the armed forces (Fitch 1998;Sarigil 2009;Newton 2009). In Israel, though, most 18-to 21-year-olds are drafted for military service and it is related to as the 'The people's army'.…”

“…Seldom addressed as a psychological factor, and more often as a sociological or political phenomenon, existing evidence reveals patterns of trust in the armed forces ranging from identification (Sarigil 2009) to alienation and mistrust (Coletta and Feaver 2006) and even fear and terror (Fitch 1998). Kasher (2000) defined 'trust in the armed forces' as a set of beliefs held by the relevant audience regarding the armed forces, professional capabilities, effectiveness and ethical/ideological justifications.…”

Toward a Classification of Managing Religious Diversity in the Ranks

“…8 Interestingly, in both countries, the military enjoys a high level of trust. Surveys show that Israelis and Turks see their respective militaries as the most credible and trustworthy institution in the state (Hadar, 2009;Ö rs, 2010;Sarigil, 2009). Regarding civil-military boundaries, in his original work, Luckham (1971) classified the Turkish case as one with integral boundaries and the Israeli case as one with fragmented ones.…”

Civil-Military Relations Beyond Dichotomy: With Special Reference to Turkey

“…23 The majority of Turkish society views the military as the most trustworthy and prestigious institution in the country. 24 Even more strikingly, a substantial part of society views the military's interventions into politics positively. Using the words of Demirel, "The military regimes in Turkey were not perceived as utterly repressive by political actors, nor were they regarded as complete failures in the political, economic, or military realms."…”