Turkey's political regime is at present the most anachronistic and

most archaic of all Europe. It is a "insidious totalitarianism," in

which the true power is exercised by the Turkish army. Several

institutions, such as the National Security Council, in which members

of the military sit, have as their goal the control and censorship of the

civilian government. This regime, born of the military coup d'état of

1980, is based on the constitution of 1982 in order to place the power

of the military on a firmer footing. There furthermore exists a secret

pseudo-constitution called the National Security Policy Document,

which enumerates the inviolable red lines for the Turkish state, including

the Kurdish problem, the Cyprus issue, and the Armenian Genocide.

No solution to these major problems is possible in this system where

the military reigns as master. This schizophrenic regime, where elected

officials do not hold the true power, is characterized by the author as a

regime of "permanent putsch" or "permanent coup d'état." The process

of accession to the European Union plays a large role in the political

normalization of the country. In this context, the Ergenekon trial against

the putschists of the Turkish army is the first break in dismantling this

power. However, much more remains to be done.