The AWACS decision was needed

I am one of the people that knows best the fact that the military attach great importance to the public and to the nature of the image they project to the public. Besides, I have been following the General Staff’s efforts to expand its public relations drive, their efforts to brief the public more extensively.
However, that is not happening.

It is high time a decision is made on this issue
Let us not forget that Turkey is changing. Also changing is the way the Turkish public views the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). The era of "Greet the military, let them go on with their spending" era is over. Besides, there is no money. Th TSK too is doing its calculations to see how it can do its work with its current budget and it is tightening its belt vigorously — according to its own standards.

However, despite this effort it fails to share with the society the information about its expenditures.

Is it because of the age-old "comfidentiality reflex" or some other reason? The box’s lid can never be taken off.
This "transparency problem" seems like a detail. However, this is deemed as one of the major stages on the EU path and the TSK should resolve this issue now at its own initiative — rather than in the future and due to the public pressure.

Since Gen. Ozkok has the kind of background and mentality that would enable him to see better than anyone else that this is needed, they can solve this issue with relative ease.

This illness must be shaken off with the Defense Ministry or the TSK undertaking the task of briefing the public.

We are not treating the public with enough respect
If the public has some doubt about the AWACS and there has been widescale criticism this is mainly because the Defense Ministry has not adequately enlightened the public. As the ministry that is sending the money it should come up and explain why the TSK needs the AWACS.

We are faced with an odd situation.

Judging by the press reports on the recent sesssions of Parliament’s Defense Committee even the defense minister has given the impression that only the General Staff knows the contents of the AWACS file and that the ministry has been left outside the loop.

The "secrecy" that has been maintained all these years attracts public attention and upsets the public a little more with every year. Since hardly anybody attaches importance to the ministry, the TSK gets blamed for this situation.

You would be making a mistake
However, if you blamed the TSK you would be making a mistake.

Turkey has taken under Turkey’s difficult conditions a step that should have been taken long time ago. It has concluded a hard, hurtful but necessary, even inevitable, deal.

The TSK has the most powerful attack fleet in the region. Turkey hasmore F-16s than any other. It has just modernized its F-4s, a very costly business.

However, in the best Turkish tradition, Turkey has failed to use these fleets effectively because of the inadequacy of its radar system. It cannot "see" on the radar system the Aegean and the Southeast or know accurately where its airborne fleets are or if those approaching the Turkish planes in the air are friend or foe. The situation is even worse when they fly at low altitude.

To sum up, the TSK had to buy the AWACS radar planes and it is obtaining them on favorable terms.