Purpose, Scope and Managerial Organs
National Defense University has been established, comprising “a) Institutes set up to raise staff officers and provide postgraduate education, b) Army, Navy and Air Force War Schools, c) Noncommissioned officer vocational colleges” (Executive Decree 669 Article 5). Furthermore, Law no. 6756 on the Amendment and Adoption of the Executive Decree on the Implementation of Certain Measures under the State of Emergency and Establishment of the National Defense University has been amended to subordinate to the Presidency of the National Defense University, the foreign language schools and other defense-related colleges (Executive Decree 690 Article 16). In this respect, the authority to decide which postgraduate institutes will be established in which disciplines, and the mode, duration and curricula of these institutes now belongs to the Ministry of National Defense, whereas previously it depended on the suggestion of the related force command and the approval of the General Staff” (Executive Decree 669 Article 78).
As regards the goal of the National Defense University’s education plans and programs, the following phrase has been added to the Law no. 4566 on War Schools concerning the legal persons in charge of drafting and implementing the said programs: “The education plans and programs blending education in scientific disciplines with the basic military and physical training in a harmonious fashion according to the methods and principles of modern education are drafted by the deans’ offices in line with the opinions and suggestions of the National Defense University’s Higher Advisory Board, taking into account the needs of the forces. The plans and programs thus drafted come into force upon a resolution of the National Defense University Senate and approval of the Minister” (Executive Decree 694 Article 90).
An amendment to the related article of the same law stipulated that the Higher Council of Education and Training, which is the “highest instance to discuss and settle any issues that may arise in the education and training programs of the war schools (…)” will operate according to the principles set by the Ministry of National Defense, and transferred to the Ministry of National Defense such powers previously entrusted to the force commands and General Staff (Executive Decree 669 Article 54-55).
Changes to the same law removed the “Turkish Armed Forces” part of the expression “Turkish Armed Forces War Schools” in the first two articles concerning objective and scope; in the article on definition, the expression “under the structure of the Force Commands” was replaced with “by the Ministry of National Defense” (Executive Decree 669 Article 52-53). As such the schools’ institutional ties with the Turkish Armed Forces were cut off and they have now been attached to the Ministry of National Defense. Indeed, the old text that read “the War Schools’ staff and structure are designed by the force commands in question and approved by the General Staff” was replaced with the phrase “the War Schools’ staff and structure are designated by the Ministry of National Defense” (Executive Decree 669 Article 55). Likewise, under the heading “Duties”, the phrase “training regular officers and civilians, upon the approval of first the force commands and then the General Staff” was replaced with “if the Ministry of National Defense deems necessary” (Executive Decree 669 Article 56).
A provision was added to this law, stating that the War Schools and Noncommissioned Officer Vocational Colleges will operate under the structure and supervision of National Defense University, according to their own laws (Executive Decree 669 Article 7). In this respect, in the phrase “war schools’ education, training, administration and other activities are supervised by the force commands in question and the General Staff”, the names of these institutions were replaced with “Ministry of National Defense” (Executive Decree 669 Article 74).
The War Schools’ administrative services related to education and training will from now on be performed by “a) War School boards, b) War School commander, c) Dean, d) Commander of the student contingent” (Executive Decree 694 Article 92). The war schools’ boards are the following: a) Administrative Board consists of the dean, deputy deans, war school commander, two department heads chosen by the dean, commander of the student contingent and the staff officer, chaired by the chaired by the president or a deputy president that the former will assign b) Education Board consists of the deputy deans and department heads chaired by the dean. If the dean deems it necessary he may invite the school commander and commander of the student contingent to the meeting as well, c) Discipline Board consists of the war school commander, dean, commander of the student contingent, deputy deans and the discipline officer, chaired by the president or a deputy president that the former will assign. It has been stipulated that the dismissals issued by the board authorized to decide on the disciplinary actions and punishments concerning students will come into effect only after the suggestion of the President and the approval of the Minister of National Defense (Executive Decree 694 Article 93).
According to the new amendment, the war school commander, as a soldier who reports to the president, is responsible for the management, supervision and control of the military education and all other efforts conducted at the war school -with the exception of the education and training activities conducted by the dean and the related administrative activities. She / he submits the budget proposal of the war school to the administration board (Executive Decree 694 Article 94).
The dean, who reports to the president, is in charge of conducting the education and training, research, organizations and publication activities at the war school. The dean can make demands from the war school command concerning administrative measures and support services meant to ensure the smooth functioning of education and training. Such demands are met at once (Executive Decree 694 Article 95).
The dean and the commander of the school are not superiors or subordinates of one another, they occupy the same rank (Executive Decree 694 Article 95).
The main objective of the amendments to the Law no. 4752 on Noncommissioned Officer Vocational Colleges is to enhance the control of Ministry of National Defense and thus of the civilian administration over military education, in line with the purpose of the establishment of National Defense University. Furthermore, since the National Defense University is an educational institution that graduates personnel for the Turkish Armed Forces, a number of changes have been made to wording due to the separation of the Gendarmerie General Command and Coast Guard Command from the Turkish Armed Forces. In this scope for instance, in the heading “definitions”, the expressions Gendarmerie General Command and Coast Guard Command were removed from the definition of academic departments. Subsequently, the purpose of the department has been described as “raising personnel to meet the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces” (Executive Decree 669 Article 82).
The duty of the said schools has been described as “raising regular noncommissioned officers in line with the principles outlined in the Article 5 and the duties and responsibilities of the force commands” (Executive Decree 694 Article 113).
Other amendments gave authority to Ministry of National Defense instead of General Staff, force commands, Gendarmerie General Command and Coast Guard Command as before, in determining their staff and structure (Executive Decree 669 Article 83). Likewise, the departments heads of the Noncommissioned Officer Vocational College are no longer to be soldiers, and the power to design the education program has been given to Ministry of National Defense instead of General Staff, force commands, Gendarmerie General Command and Coast Guard Command as before (Executive Decree 669 Article 82). Similar changes have been made in the provisions concerning other organs of the Noncommissioned Officer Vocational College, and its purpose and principles. Parallel amendments were made to the old text in the sections of “basic principles” (Executive Decree 669 Article 84), “Higher Honorary Board” (Executive Decree 669 Article 85), and “Supervisory Board” (Executive Decree 669 Article 86). Furthermore, the supervision of the Noncommissioned Officer Vocational College has also been entrusted to the Ministry of National Defense through a similar amendment (Executive Decree 669 Article 103).
The organs of the Noncommissioned Officer Vocational Colleges are similar in structure, duties and responsibilities to the War Schools. Indeed, the organs of the said academies consist of “a) College boards, b) College commanders, c) College principals, d) Commander of student contingent or regiment” (Executive Decree 694 Article 114) and the duties and authorities of the boards and administrators are regulated in similar fashion (Executive Decree 694 Article 114-117). Furthermore, “The college commander, who reports to the president, is responsible for the management, supervision and control of the military education and all other efforts conducted at the war school -with the exception of the education and training activities conducted by the college principal and the related administrative activities.” (Executive Decree 694 Article 116). The college principal, “who reports to the president, is in charge of conducting the education and training, research, organizations and publication activities at the war school” (Executive Decree 694 Article 117).
The college commander and the college principal are not superiors or subordinates of one another, they occupy the same rank (Executive Decree 694 Article 117).
Provisions concerning managerial appointments
The basic purpose of the appointments concerning the National Defense University and associated institutions is to enhance the influence of civilians over military education and training by means of the Ministry of National Defense. In this respect, it is remarkable that the managers -except the school commanders- are appointed by managers who are themselves appointed by the Ministry of National Defense, or directly by the Ministry of National Defense. Besides, the school commanders are no longer the top managers as was the case prior to the executive decree. Civilian oversight of the military education system was enhanced through the appointment of the university president by the President of the state, and by granting significant powers to the deans, department heads, and noncommissioned officer school principals, who are civilians of equal rank to the school commanders, appointed by the Minister of National Defense. Below are listed the important details concerning the appointment procedure.
National Defense University’s president is appointed by the President of the state, from among three candidates nominated by the Minister of National Defense and approved by the Prime Minister. Furthermore, no more than four deputy presidents are appointed by the Minister of National Defense (Executive Decree 669 Article 5).
The institute principals will be appointed by the Minister of National Defense (Executive Decree 669 Article 6) and will no longer be soldiers (Executive Decree 669 Article 60).
In the new provision, war school deans are appointed by the Minister of National Defense for three-year stints and will be civilians, whereas they had to be soldiers as per Law no. 926 on Turkish Armed Forces Personnel. The same change applied to the deputy deans (Executive Decree 669 Article 58-59).
War School commanders will continue to be appointed as per the provisions of the Law no. 926 on Turkish Armed Forces Personnel (Executive Decree 694 Article 94).
Noncommissioned Officer Vocational College commanders will continue to be appointed as per the provisions of the Law no. 926 on Turkish Armed Forces Personnel (Executive Decree 694 Article 116).
Noncommissioned Officer Vocational College principals will be civilians, appointed for three-year stints by the Minister of National Defense, and reappointed after the end of the said period (Executive Decree 694 Article 117).
Education and Training Staff and Principles of Student Enrolment
Principles Concerning Education and Training Staff
The purpose of executive decree amendments to the principles and procedures governing the determination of the National Defense University’s and associated institutions’ education and training policy, faculty members, and student enrolment is also in keeping with the basic underlying goal of enhancing the authority of civilians over military education and training. It is remarkable in the sense that the Ministry of National Defense has been given vast powers over the principles and procedures for determining military education and training policies, staff appointments and student enrolment. Furthermore, with the closure of military high schools, the enrolment of students from other high schools and equivalent institutions has become a very critical piece of legislation. The details of Executive Decree provisions are presented below.
A new provision states that the Higher Education Council will be in charge of the basic rights of the National Defense University faculty members, and the basic rights of the military members of faculty will be managed as per the Law on Turkish Armed Forces Personnel (Executive Decree 669 Article 8).
The salaries of the civilian faculty members of the National Defense University have been determined through an amendment to the Article 8 of the Law no. 6756 on the Amendment and Adoption of the Executive Decree on the Implementation of Certain Measures under the State of Emergency and Establishment of the National Defense University. A separate amendment to the Article 8/A of the same law has elaborated on the disciplinary procedures concerning these civilian faculty members. Accordingly, the latter are subject to the same provisions that apply to the civil servants serving in the Ministry of National Defense and Turkish Armed Forces. Furthermore, the contracted or appointed faculty members are subject not only to disciplinary provisions as listed in the Law on Civil Servants dated 14/7/1965 and numbered 657, but also those found in the Law no 2547 on Higher Education (Executive Decree 694 Article 177-178).
Changes have been made to the Law no. 4566 on War Schools, section “Faculty Members”, as regards the appointments of assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors. (The appointments of assistant, associate and full professors had previously been regulated by Executive Decree 669, ensuring that the Ministry of National Defense would have an important say in the announcements of and appointments to vacant positions. Executive Decree 694 preserved the dominant position of the Ministry of National Defense in these appointments, but also granted powers to the president and other administrators, which are in turn appointed by the Ministry of National Defense.) Accordingly, the vacant assistant professor positions in the war schools are announced by the university president’s office. Candidates to these positions submit their files to the deans’ offices. The candidates who are considered by the deans’ offices to meet the requirements, have to pass a foreign language exam and then a written scientific assessment process. The successful candidates are appointed upon the university president’s suggestion and the Minister’s approval. (Executive Decree 694 Article 98).
To be promoted to Associate Professorship, candidates have to “meet the requirements for promotion listed in the Law no. 2547, and if they are Turkish Armed Forces personnel, they have to possess an outstanding quality certificate. War School deans’ offices report to the university president’s office the number of associate professorship positions they require. the president’s office announces the vacant positions that it deems necessary. Candidates to these positions submit their files to the president’s office. The candidates who are considered by the president’s office to meet the requirements, have to pass an examination and then a written scientific assessment process as required by law. The successful candidates are appointed upon the university president’s suggestion and the Minister’s approval.” (Executive Decree 694 Article 99).
To be promoted to Professorship, candidates have to “meet the requirements for promotion listed in the Law no. 2547 on Higher Education, and if they are Turkish Armed Forces personnel, they have to possess an outstanding quality certificate. War School deans’ offices report to the university president’s office the number of associate professorship positions they require. the president’s office announces the vacant positions that it deems necessary. Candidates to these positions submit their files to the president’s office. The candidates who are considered by the president’s office to meet the requirements, have to pass an examination and then a written scientific assessment process as required by law. The successful candidates considered to be academically proficient are appointed upon the university president’s suggestion and the Minister’s approval.” (Executive Decree 694 Article 100).
Principles and procedures for the appointment of assistant, associate and full professors to noncommissioned officer vocational colleges have been amended just like those governing appointments in the war schools, and in line with changes to the Articles 15, 16 and 17 of the Law no. 4752 on Noncommissioned Officer Vocational Colleges (by Executive Decree 694 Article 118, Executive Decree 694 Article 119, Executive Decree 694 Article 120 respectively). Furthermore, their basic rights have been amended much like those in the war schools.
An amendment to the Article 40 in the “Basic Rights” section of the Law no. 4566 took the authority to determine the principles governing the additional course fees of the faculty members from the “force commands in question” and gave it to the “Ministry of National Defense” (Executive Decree 669 Article 79). Furthermore in the section titled “retirement age limit”, the power to extend the terms of office of general / admiral members of faculty until their age limit has been shifted from the General Staff to the Ministry of National Defense (Executive Decree 669 Article 65).
Another amendment to the said law took the power to appoint or assign faculty members outside the war schools (Executive Decree 669 Article 66), to appoint civilian members of faculty (Executive Decree 669 Article 67), to appoint lecturers and teaching assistants (Executive Decree 669 Article 68-69), and to appoint students of foreign nationality from the General Staff and Force Commands and gave it to the Ministry of National Defense. The appointment of foreign faculty members now passes through the request of the dean’s office, designation of the university president’s office and the approval of the Minister (Executive Decree 694 Article 102).
General Staff and Force Commands are no longer authorized to set the procedures and principles for supervision activities as was the case with the Law no. 4566 (Executive Decree 669 Article 80).
An amendment to the same law regulated the issue of the education of faculty members in Turkey and overseas (Executive Decree 694 Article 103). Furthermore, it was stipulated that, the university president’s suggestion and the minister’s approval are necessary for faculty members to be assigned to other public agencies; the president’s suggestion and the minister’s approval are necessary for the long term assignment of faculty members to overseas research duties; and the the dean’s suggestion and the president’s approval are necessary for the long term assignment of faculty members to domestic research duties (Executive Decree 694 Article 105-106).
An amendment to Article 35 concerning supervision of Law no. 4566 authorized the university president’s office with conducting the scientific supervision of faculty members (Executive Decree 694 Article 108).
An addition to Article 40 concerning basic rights of the same law reads that “Furthermore, disciplinary punishment defined in the higher education legislation applies to the contracted or appointed faculty members involved in the cases of breach of discipline provided in Law no. 657 on Civil Servants and the Law no 2547, that require disciplinary action” (Executive Decree 694 Article 110).
Principles and Procedures for Student Enrolment
An additional clause was added to the Law no. 6756 on the Amendment and Adoption of the Executive Decree on the Implementation of Certain Measures under the State of Emergency and Establishment of the National Defense University, stating that “From the date of the publication of this article until 31/12/2020, the requirements for acceptance to the institutes are determined by the force commands in consideration of the needs and personnel of force commands” (Executive Decree 694 Article 179).
In the Law no. 4566 on War Schools, under the section “Requirements for Entrance to War Schools”, the phrase “their main student source is military high schools” was replaced with “their main student source is the graduates of high schools and equivalent schools” (Executive Decree 669 Article 76). Besides, the following phrase was removed from the old text: “When necessary, students who are graduates of civilian high schools identified by relevant Force Commands and approved by General Staff, and fulfill the conditions to be listed in the regulation, may also be accepted to war schools” (Executive Decree 669 Article 76).
The following temporary article was added to the same law: “Temporary article 4- In the year following this article’s coming into effect, recruitment activities may be carried out to enrol students from the relevant departments of universities, especially those universities that provide pilot training, to the first, second and third year classes of the Air Force War School. The procedures and principles concerning their transition to the Air Force War School are determined jointly by the Ministry of National Defense and Higher Education Council” (Executive Decree 671 Article 15).
The following “temporary article 5” was added to the same law: “In the year following this article’s coming into effect, recruitment activities may be carried out to enrol students from the relevant departments of universities to the first, second and third year classes of the War School. The procedures and principles concerning their transition to the War School are determined jointly by the Ministry of National Defense and Higher Education Council” (Executive Decree 676 Article 67).
The following provision was added as regards the graduate students of military schools: “As of the issuance date of this Executive Decree, civilian students studying at the War Schools and the closed War Academies are placed by the Higher Education Council in institutes which are suitable to their conditions. The Higher Education Council has the authority and duty of setting the principles and procedures concerning the application of this article, orienting its application, taking any measures and resolving any issues that may arise” (Executive Decree 677 Article 5).
An amendment was made to the article regulating education at undergraduate level, with the addition of the phrase “Those who fail at the preparation class are placed by the Measurement, Selection and Placement Center in a higher education institution depending on the grade they received in the year they took the university entrance exam.” The expression, “by the Ministry of National Defense” was replaced with “by the University President’s office” (Executive Decree 694 Article 109).
In the Law no. 4752 on Noncommissioned Officer Vocational Colleges, change was made to the section “student source” to replace the expression “graduates of Noncommissioned Officer Preparation Schools, and the graduates of civilian high schools and equivalent schools designated by the Force Commands to which the Noncommissioned Officer Vocational Colleges report, by the Gendarmerie General Command and Coast Guard Command, and approved by the General Staff” with the expression “its student source are graduates of high schools and equivalent schools” (Executive Decree 669 Article 100).
The following “Temporary Article 4” was added to the same law: “In the year following this article’s coming into effect, recruitment activities may be carried out to enroll students from the relevant departments of universities to the first, second and third year classes of the noncommissioned officer vocational colleges. The procedures and principles concerning their transition to these schools are determined jointly by the Ministry of National Defense and Higher Education Council” (Executive Decree 676 Article 68).