Turkish president approves removal of coup article

ANKARA

Turkish President Abdullah Gül has approved the amendment of an article believed to have provided historical legal justification for military coups d’état in the country. DHA photo

Turkish President Abdullah Gül has approved the amendment of an article believed to have provided historical legal justification for military coups d’état in the country, which saw four governments overthrown between 1960 and 1997.

The amendment was adopted by Parliament on July 13, on the last day of the past legislative year.

“The duty of the Armed Forces is to protect and safeguard the Turkish homeland and the Turkish Republic as stipulated by the Constitution,” the former Article 35 stated.

With the amendment, the phrasing now states that “the duty of the Armed Forces is to protect the Turkish homeland against threats and dangers to come from abroad, to ensure the preservation and strengthening of military power in a manner that will provide deterrence, to fulfill the duties abroad with the decision of the Parliament and help maintain international peace,” thus putting greater emphasis on threats from outside.

Another article of the same internal service code defined military service as the “responsibility to learn and conduct the art of war in order to protect the Turkish homeland, independence and Republic.”

With the amendment, it has been altered to limit its extent by defining the military service as “the responsibility to learn and conduct the art of war.”