From Zaman: The replacement of former Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül with a younger and more dynamic Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy, İsmet Yılmaz from Sivas, has led to comments that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has set the wheels in motion for the acceleration of reforms to enable the normalization of ties between the Turkish military and government and the subordinating of the General Staff to the Defense Ministry.
According to some officials from within the ruling AK Party, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, the Defense Ministry will, starting Wednesday, be under the control of “a man the prime minister really trusts.”
They said Gönül had been an obstacle to the government’s plans to end military tutelage in Turkey. The officials believe that when the prime minister appointed Yılmaz, an experienced bureaucrat and jurist, he indicated that the AK Party government will take further steps to subordinate the General Staff to the Ministry of Defense. (graphic: Peter Schrank/Economist)
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