Leading boss happy with no army reaction

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Alaton says he is very hopeful about the writing of the new Constitution. DAILY NEWS photo

The Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) has received no reaction from the General Staff for publishing Turkey’s military spending, a surprise as former general in chiefs were always previously irked by the issue, according to founder and leading industrialist İshak Alaton.

“Each time we publish data, we are slapped by the General Staff. First we are told off by [former Chief of General Staff] Yaşar Büyükanıt, and then by İlker Başbuğ. But we haven’t gotten any reaction from the current one; he has remained silent. So there is a progress and a kind of sensibility seems to have been introduced,” Alaton said in a conference.

Alaton also expressed that it was a citizen’s right for civil society to demand transparency on the military spending.

According to him, the transformation Turkey underwent over the last decade with regards to the Kurdish issue and negotiations to end clashes in southeastern Turkey are signs of a great progress. “Yet still, we are not as free as we must be,” Alaton said.

He also spoke on the writing of the new Constitution. He said he was hopeful about the process and that Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç had promised to work hard, while Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek said he observed a great progress on that matter.