Gen. İlker Başbuğ took over the duty of chief of general staff from Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt in a handover ceremony held yesterday at the General Staff headquarters in Ankara, where he warned about the threats Turkey faces due to its strategic geographical location.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Gen. Başbuğ said: "Throughout history Turkey has been in the center of regions of crisis and this will not change. Failing to see or understand threats or failing to produce solutions to avert them is not sufficient to keep a country away from threats. In consideration of this, we can say that Turkey is surrounded by a series of threats, from symmetric ones to asymmetric ones."
He suggested that Turkey's national interests in the midst of such threats could be preserved by remaining committed to the fundamentals of the republic and that in this way Turkey's existence can be preserved and its level of welfare can be increased.

President Abdullah Gül, Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Constitutional Court President Haşim Kılıç, Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) President Mehmet Ali Talat attended the ceremony, along with ministers, deputies, chairmen of higher judicial organs, generals, admirals and high-level bureaucrats.

Gen. Başbuğ also spoke of the importance of the nation-state, stressing that it was not a structure that could be opened to debate and that trying to undermine this structure was equal to desiring Turkey's disintegration.

"The fact that intellectual debates [on the subject of the nation-state] can be made within the state, does not mean opening to debate elements that keep the country standing," he noted.

Başbuğ stressed that ethnic nationalism lies behind the separatist terrorist threat that Turkey faces today, referring to Turkey's ongoing struggle against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist organization. "This movement targets the structure of the nation-state. This should be clearly understood by all," he said.

Başbuğ also talked about the principle of secularism and said that a certain segment of Turkish society has concerns about efforts to undermine secularism. "These concerns should be taken into consideration. The fact that religious values are being given heed in our social life today fuels these concerns," he added.

On Turkey's fight against the PKK, he said Turkey will continue to carry out operations against the terrorist organization in northern Iraq. Starting from December 2007 Turkey has been carrying out air strikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq. A large-scale cross-border land operation was also launched earlier in the year.

In an open warning to the European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, Başbuğ said if the EU refuses to grant Turkey a place in the bloc, its influence in the Middle East and the Caucasus will end. In his last speech as chief of general staff, Gen. Büyükanıt spoke about the actions he undertook during his term and said he had intensified studies for the training of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) during his time as its top commander.

He stressed that at a time when technological developments gain speed each and every day and influence security systems, it was necessary for Turkey prepare well for the future by taking these influences into consideration. Büyükanıt pointed to separatist terrorism and reactionaryism as two serious threats Turkey is currently facing.

"Today, it is necessary to be careful about ethnic nationalism and reactionaryism," he stressed. Gen. Büyükanıt was presented with a state medal of honor at the ceremony.

Gen. Başbuğ is now the Republic of Turkey's 26th chief of general staff. He will remain in office for two years. Following National Victory Day, which will be observed on Aug. 30, Gen. Başbuğ will hold a reception at Gazi Orduevi in Ankara.

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