Armed Forces and Society in Turkey: Survey Results

Date: November 25, 2011 Friday
Time: 10:00-12:30
Place: Dolapdere Campus, BS-2

What does the Turkish society think about the Turkish Armed Forces? How much does Turkish society trust the military? What are the perceptions of the public on military interventions in politics and the division of labor between the military and the civilians? What is the dominant view in Turkish society on the questions of conscription, shortened military service by payment, conscientious objection, transition to a professional military, and gays in the armed forces? What do people think about the recent developments in civil-military relations in Turkey, including the Ergenekon case?

In order to find answers to these and similar questions, on October 1-2 a public opinion survey with close to 3000 people in Turkey was conducted by İstanbul Bilgi University Department of International Relations and European Institute Assistant Professor Yaprak Gürsoy and Bilkent University Department of Political Science Assistant Professor Zeki Sarıgil with the collaboration of KONDA. The results of this survey and its implications will be presented and discussed in the panel.

The event is part of the project entitled “Armed Forces and Society in Turkey: An Empirical Approach” (Project No: 110K462) sponsored by TÜBİTAK’s Support Program for Scientific and Technological Research Projects (1001).

The panel will be held in Turkish.

PROGRAM

10:00-10:20    Welcome Coffee   

10:20-10:35     Opening Remarks
Prof. Dr. Ege Yazgan (İstanbul Bilgi University, Dean of Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences

10:35-11:20    Armed Forces and Society in Turkey: Survey Results
Asst. Prof. Dr. Yaprak Gürsoy (İstanbul Bilgi University, European Institute and Dept. of International Relations
Asst. Prof. Dr. Zeki Sarıgil (Bilkent University, Dept. of Political Science)

11:20-12:00     Evaluation of the Survey Results
Soli Özel (Kadir Has University, Dept. of International Relations)
Prof. Dr. Ersin Kalaycıoğlu (Sabancı University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)

12:00-12:30     General Discussion

Panel Chair: Prof. Dr. Sabri Sayarı (Sabancı University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)