Suchergebnisse

The aim of this article is to analyze the educational programs of the Turkish Military Academy both in the Ottoman era and the Republican time with special emphasis on the sociology courses. This analysis is important in the sense that the Military Academy is always perceived as a pioneering institution of the modernization process in Turkey. As a result of assessing the development process of the Academy curricula it could be safely stated that the aim of changes and designs has always been to promote rationality and to follow up with the recent improvements in military academies of other countries. Explanation is also offered why a sociology course has not been a permanent feature of the curriculum at the Academy.

This article discusses the impact of casualty risks on recruitment for the Turkish Armed Forces. The issue is treated in the context of Turkey as a martial society, for which the embeddedness of military service is a prime example. There is ample experience with military casualties in recent history: in Korea, in Cyprus, during a number of peacekeeping missions, and especially during operations in southeast Turkey over the last two decades. For this latter case, statistical data are analyzed not only vis-à-vis the recruitment of professionals and the behavior of those already serving, but also in relation to the attitudes of conscripts. All in all, the culture of the Turkish Armed Forces is characterized by a low degree of risk aversion rooted in strong civil-military relations. While conscription remains as a symbol of the latter, this sets limits for the trend toward professionalization.