Military cultures as a rule do not change easily. Turkish military culture stands out here
however having undergone several stark changes within the last century.°°This book focuses on
modern Turkish politics by giving special reference to civil-military relations and military
culture. Turkish people give very strong importance on soldiery and even sanctify the status of
'martyrdom'. This obliges us to analyse cultural determinants of civil-military relations to
understand the reasons of ongoing military interventions in politics. °°Under which
circumstances do Turkish military officers believe that military rule is more favourable than
civilian rule? Why did the Turkish people applaud a number of military interventions in the
past? To answer these questions we analysed Turkish military culture comprehensively and
separated its transformation into three periods namely revolutionist (1908-1945) guardianship
(1945-1999) and depoliticization (1999-2013). While analysing each part we also noted their
impacts on Turkish politics and Turkish society as well as the reasons that shape the so-called
close linkage between military and society.
