Ozkok labeled soldiers who pray as being “involved in fundamentalist activities”

ANKARA, January 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The head of the Turkish army has accused the new government of encouraging what they called “anti-secularism” in response to Prime Minister Abdullah Gul’s announcement he will try to amend the law allowing officers who were expelled from the army for practicing their religion to contest their dismissal and pledging to lift the ban on women wearing Islamic headscarves in public.

General Hilmi Ozkok, who head an army that enforces secular rule in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation and wields immense political power, late Wednesday, January 8, accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of encouraging soldiers “involved in fundamentalist activities” and pledging to lift the ban on women wearing Islamic headscarves in public, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The ruling AKP, which scored a landslide victory in Turkey’s general election two months ago, has Islamic roots but says it has foresworn its Islamic origins for a more centre-right agenda, AFP added.

Its comments on army practices and bid to relax the headscarf ban have nevertheless sparked a furious reaction from the military, which regularly voices its views on domestic and foreign security issues.

In a rare comment to reporters, Ozkok said Islamic “extremism” was one of the most serious threats to Turkey’s secular system and justified the army’s annual purge of military personnel it found guilty of Islamic activism.

The army had developed “defense mechanisms (against) Islamic infiltration”, he explained, saying Prime Minister Abdullah Gul had been wrong to oppose elements of the system.

Officers Sacked for Practicing Religion

Last week, Turkey’s supreme military council sacked seven officers for what they called “Islamic activities”.

Human rights activists have criticized Turkish army for expelling officers for praying or practicing their religion as well as for forcing women not wear veil which a huge violation to basic personal freedoms.

Military personnel targeted in such purges have no right of appeal and Gul, who signed last week’s verdict but added a written reservation, said his government would seek to amend the law so those expelled could contest their dismissal.

Ozkok said Gul’s planned move had “no legal foundation” and “ran counter to the administration’s responsibility” of upholding the country’s laws.

He also attacked the AKP for seeking to relax the ban on women wearing headscarves in universities and public offices.

“We should not be expected to tolerate the use of the headscarf as a political symbol to erode republican values,” he warned.

The AKP vowed in its election campaign to tackle a problem that has led many women to abandon or forego university studies rather than give up their headscarves.

The ban on wearing headscarves in public was tightened in 1997, when the army and pro-secular hierarchy in Turkey forced the government of Islamic prime minister Necmettin Erbakan to resign after only one year in power.

Parliament speaker Bulent Arinc, a prominent member of the AKP, sparked uproar in the press shortly after the November election when his headscarf-wearing wife accompanied him to the airport to see President Ahmet Necdet Sezer off on a foreign trip.

On Wednesday the head of the parliament’s important defense committee said he was resigning after press said that he had been sacked from the army in 1997 for Islamic activism.

Former officer Ramazan Toprak, a 42-year-old AKP member of parliament, gave no reason for his departure but attacked the “slur campaign” he said had been waged against him.