The Impact of Turkey's Membership in the European Union on the Role of the Army in Turkey during the Justice and Development Party

After about four decades since the initial step, the Ankara agreement, the relations between Turkey and the European Union are still in a state of struggling over Turkey's eligibility to join the EU. In recent decades, this relationship has seen many changes, and there is still ambiguity and uncertainty about the end of this relationship. Turkey that has been considered one of the strategic allies of the European Union, is in the process of becoming a member of the EU, and sinusoidal negotiations of the parties have been the dominant framework in bilateral relations. In this regard, the current role of the army in Turkey's policies has been as the most important part of the EU membership process, as the army considers itself to be the protector of the republic and its principles in Turkey that is result of the past years. Because it is completely against the principles of the EU and opposing the interference of the military in politics, this feature has become a complex puzzle in the Turkey-EU bilateral relations. On this basis, in the process of Turkey's membership, the European Union has strongly sought to reform military-civilian relations in Turkey, and civilian control on military organizations. Democratization of military-civilian relations and control of civilians in military institutions has been one of the most important political issues raised in this process. With the coming to power of the Justice and Development Party, AKP, this process has continued at a faster pace in the domestic and foreign spheres.