The amendments introduced through executive decrees in the field of military education are part of a fundamental effort to enhance the powers of the Ministry of National Defense over Turkish Armed Forces and the powers of the Ministry of Interior over the Gendarmerie General Command and Coast Guard Command -separated from the Turkish Armed Forces through executive decrees-, in short, to increase the powers of the civilian authorities. In line with this basic goal, the General Staff and Force Commands have a fairly limited role in determining the faculty members, student body, and education policies of the new military education institutions, namely National Defense University, and Gendarmerie and Coast Guard Academy. The Ministry of National Defense plays a much larger role in the case of the National Defense University, and the Ministry of Interior in the Gendarmerie and Coast Guard Academy. As such, the goal here is to ensure that the said institutions operate under civilian authorities. In this scope, “regulatory measures” were taken to close down the War Academies, Military High Schools and Noncommissioned Officer Preparation Schools (Executive Decree 669 Article 104). Another newly added phrase reads “Students of military high schools, noncommissioned officer preparations schools, war schools, faculties, colleges and noncommissioned officer vocational colleges (including the gendarmerie) are to be enrolled at convenient civilian schools.” Furthermore, it was stipulated that “Military students who will graduate as of August 30 are not to be appointed as commissioned or noncommissioned officers. They will be given diplomas from those faculties and universities which will be determined by the Higher Education Council according to the points that they receive on the date that the university entrance exam takes place”. (Executive Decree 669 Article 105).
The new provisions are described below in detail, including those concerning the aforementioned newly established institutions.