Top army commander accused AKP of undermining …

General Cetin Dogan, a top army commander, openly accused Erdogan of undermining the Turkish Armed Forces and attempting to change the secular regime, the daily Cumhuriyet reported Monday. A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the report.

Another leading newspaper, Milliyet, also reported the clash at the meeting.

Turkey hopes to start membership talks with the EU by the end of next year, but the EU has demanded Turkey first curtail the military’s influence and carry out other reforms before it can join.

The military suspects that the Islamic-rooted government of Erdogan has a secret agenda to replace the secular regime with an Islamic one — an accusation denied by Erdogan.

“You are benefiting from the Turkish people’s love for the EU. One day, you will pay for it,” Cumhuriyet quoted Dogan as saying. “Don’t assume that this force will be a coup. This will be the Turkish people.”

The military has waged three coups and in 1997 pressured a pro-Islamic government out of power.

Said Dogan: “Forces that will not allow any change in the secular structure of Turkey will act together. If needed, the army and the nation will achieve the result hand in hand.”

Cumhuriyet said Dogan was supported by other generals at the meeting. Erdogan reportedly defended his government, saying that it had no intentions to harm the military.

The reported clash during an annual military congress over the weekend to determine military promotions and firings came only days after parliament had passed reforms emphasizing that the National Security Council was an advisory body, allowing a civilian to serve as the council’s secretary-general and permitting lawmakers to scrutinize some military expenses.

The military has a strong say in national policy through its presence on the council, a forum used by the military to exert influence on the government. But the tensions show how difficult it will be to curtail the influence of the military, which harbors enormous distrust of Erdogan’s government.

“The reforms on paper change the balance of power between the military and civilians but this does not mean that the military is no longer effective,” said Umit Cizre, a political scientist at Ankara’s Bilkent University.

During the meeting, Erdogan reportedly clashed with the military over the firing of 18 soldiers for having suspected pro-Islamic leanings, but eventually relented.

The meeting was overshadowed by another thorny issue when Erdogan canceled a traditional banquet in honor of the generals to prevent a possible crisis over his wife’s Islamic-style headscarf — regarded by the military as a symbol of political Islam.