Ataturk is turning in his grave

The resignation of Turkish armed forces commander General Isik Kosaner and the commanders of the ground forces, air force, and navy are proof of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's success in undermining modernizing President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's legacy; a legacy seen as the pillar of secular Turkey and its shield against religious empowerment. The Kemalists have good reason to worry, following the weekend's historic turn of events, Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) has never enjoyed such power.

Since his inauguration in 2003, Erdogan has put in place a slew of reforms with one clear goal: to weaken the military establishment. The West, primarily the E.U., applauded the move. The steps taken by the Turkish prime minister were in line with Brussels's list of demands from Turkey for its long awaited entry to the E.U. But what the technocrats in Belgium's capital overlooked was Turkey's unique nature, primarily Ataturk's legacy, which sees the Turkish military as the stalwart defender of its nationalism and secularism. Perhaps the pinnacle of the reforms was the transfer of military courts to civilian jurisdiction. Brussels saw it as nothing out of the ordinary, Turks saw it as the world turning upside down.

Following his seemingly effortless enactment of reforms in the name of democracy and unity against the army, Erdogan moved onto "Phase II" of his plan, undermining the army via accusations, arrests and the courts. Erdogan's government claimed that a group of senior officers attempted to overthrow it by means of provocation and plotted to sabotage religious institutions. Dozens of officers traded their uniforms for prison jumpsuits overnight (Begging the question: If one day the officers' accusations are proven fabricated, would Erdogan apologize-).

As of now the brass has given up the fight and resigned. Not so long ago they would have toiled over whether to remove a government, like they have four times since 1960. The last time it happened, in 1997, they took down Necmettin Erbakan's Islamist-rooted government. But Erdogan today is too strong (a result of Turkey's consistent economic surge), and the AKP is firmly entrenched in the Turkish public's good graces. There is no doubt that if it was up to Erodgan, Ataturk's face and name would long have been erased from Turkey's memory. But just as the army is too weak to overcome Erdogan's current hegemony, Erdogan is not strong enough to erase the father of modern Turkey's legacy.

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