TURKEY'S MILITARY BRASS BOW OUT
In a surprise development, all of Turkey’s top military commanders have resigned in unison in a last-ditch protest aimed at the Islamist-led civilian government. Turkey’s secular military, which has wielded enormous political power throughout the country's modern history, dismissing four civilian governments in four decades, has long been at odds with its civilian leadership, particularly the Islamist-leaning political parties. Since 2002, when the largest of these, the AKP, came to power, Turkey’s generals have witnessed a steady diminution of their power through legal maneuvers, as well as a series of high profile investigations and arrests of Turkish military personnel suspected of plotting against the civilian government.
It appears to have been those arrests, which have jailed dozens of senior military commanders in recent years (together with journalists and other public figures), that prompted the latest resignations, which include the country’s top military commander and the heads of the navy, army, and air force. News broke recently that 22 more arrest warrants had been issued, and that at least two top generals were to be among those charged (more than 40 generals, or ten percent of the military leadership, have already been taken into custody). For his part, AKP leader and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accepted the generals’ resignations and appointed the head of the military police - an AKP loyalist - to the position of top military commander. The resignations, a columnist for Turkey’s Milliyet newspaper has written, “effectively [mark] the end of the military’s role in Turkish democracy" and represent "the symbolic moment where the first Turkish republic ends and the second republic begins.” (New York Times, July 29, 2011)
HAMA UNDER SIEGE... AGAIN
The city of Hama has served as the symbolic center of the months-old protest movement that has swept Syria since this spring and challenged the authoritarian rule of President Bashar Assad. For several weeks, the Syrian government surprised regional observers by remaining aloof to the Hama protesters, even recalling the military’s presence from the city to complement offers of political concessions at the federal level. But on August 3, the Syrian government reversed course, deploying tanks, armored vehicles and snipers into the city en masse, seizing Assi Square, the center-city rally point for the protest movement. Even before the tanks entered the city’s limits, more than 100 people had been reported killed, with the number expected to rise in coming days.
Hama has a history of opposition to the governing Alawite coalition, and the government a history of meting out brutal repression there. In 1982, amid a revolt by Sunni Muslims in Hama, Bashar al Assad’s father, Hafez, conducted a scorched-earth policy against the city, killing at least 10,000 citizens in indiscriminate shelling. The current military operation has had at least one unintended consequence, however. It appears to have broken a longstanding deadlock at the UN Security Council over condemning the Syrian government’s brutal reaction to the Arab spring. Overcoming opposition from Russia and Turkey, a resolution was passed denouncing “widespread violations of human rights... by the Syrian authorities.” Turkey’s deputy prime minister called the Hama operation “an atrocity” and warned the Syrian government they were “making a big mistake.” (New York Times, August 3, 2011)
MEHDI ARMY SPLINTERS
Iraq’s Mehdi Army, a Shi’ite militant movement once under the control of firebrand cleric-turned-political kingmaker Muqtada al Sadr, has splintered into dozens of renegade offshoots that have been assassinating Iraqi officials and Coalition troops. These splinter factions “have turned into mercenary groups which have no ideology or specific agenda,” says Major-General Hassan al-Baidhani, head of Baghdad’s security operations. “They are more like contract killers.” Some believe the groups have deeply infiltrated the country's Defense, Interior, and National Security ministries, providing them with access to government cars, badges and other equipment. Even al Sadr has condemned the groups – which are believed to be funded in large part by Iran – calling them “criminals” and “murderers.” A senior official closely linked to al Sadr told Reuters they “have become an intelligence tool employed by Iran to terminate its opponents in Iraq.” However, Sadr has been reluctant to confront the rebel groups with his own forces for fear of an intra-Shi’ite civil war and of “collid[ing] with the Iranians now.” (Reuters, July 21, 2011)
ISRAEL'S MILITARY BRACES FOR SEPTEMBER
The Israeli army is beefing up its arsenal of non-lethal weaponry in anticipation of the potential for civil unrest following Palestinian efforts to unilaterally declare statehood at the upcoming September meeting of the UN General Assembly. Israel has condemned the proposed move as counterproductive and inimical to ongoing peace efforts, but it is also taking practical precautions. Last month, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) began distributing smaller-sized, less lethal rounds for its standard-issued M-16s as well as impact (non-lead) rounds for its M-24 sniper rifles.
Meanwhile, the IDF has purchased cutting-edge riot equipment, like the “Scream” device that emits bursts of sound that disorient victims and “Skunk Bombs” that emit a foul-smelling liquid, in addition to more conventional equipment like tear gas, rubber bullets and protective equipment. The IDF has been offering training instruction and intelligence briefs to brigade, battalion and company commanders in a widespread effort to contain the potential blowback from the UN vote. “The possibility of large demonstrations after September is at the forefront of the military’s activities these days,” one senior IDF officer has told the Jerusalem Post. (Jerusalem Post, July 22, 2011)