Turkish General Brushes Off EU Criticism
General Tuncer Kilinc : "We are happy with the situation"
ANKARA, Oct 11 (Reuters) - A senior Turkish general on Friday brushed off criticism in an EU report of the lack of full civilian control of the military, which the European Union sees as an obstacle to Turkey joining the bloc.

"We are happy with the situation," General Tuncer Kilinc, general secretary of the powerful National Security Council (MGK), told reporters in response to a question about the EU report published on Wednesday.

The report said that Turkey had not fully met the criteria for starting membership talks with the EU, and picked out concerns about human rights and the role of the military.

The Turkish armed forces see themselves as the guardians of democratic and secular principles and have carried out three coups since 1960, as well as easing a government from power in 1997 because of its Islamist tilt.

Opinion polls regularly show the military as the most trusted institution in Turkey, a NATO member.

The EU's concerns about the military focus on the National Security Council, an advisory body that brings together top politicians and generals once a month to discuss the key issues of the day. Though the council is nominally only advisory, its recommendations are rarely challenged.

General Kilinc raised concerns in the EU earlier this year when he said that Turkey had received "not the slightest help" from the EU and suggested Ankara look for support to Russia and Iran besides its traditional ally, the United States.

Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel also defended the role of the military in Turkish political life earlier this week, saying the armed forces had always played a positive role.

"The position of the military in Turkish political and social life stems from historical experience, and the importance of the armed forces in Turkish political and social life cannot be compared with any other armed forces in Europe," Gurel said.