Mixed Signals in Ankara.(Turkey's military drafts a nationalist policy)

When the Turkish military speaks, Ankara's politicians sit up and listen. It's not the general staff's way with words that focuses the mind. Rather, it's their habit of deposing civilian governments that don't share their views.

Forty years ago Turkey's generals hanged a democratically elected prime minister; three other governments have been ousted since then, most recently in 1998. Now the military is speaking out again and, for the first time in memory, America and the European Union are coming under fire. To anyone mindful of Turkey's checkered history, this raises serious questions about where the country is heading, and whether it might be wavering in its traditional Western alliance.

No one's predicting another coup. But last week, in a series of seminars and lectures to select audiences, Turkey's top generals outlined a disconcertingly aggressive and strongly nationalist vision. Claiming still to be committed to joining Europe, Chief of the General Staff Hilmi Ozkok nonetheless blasted the EU's "double standards" concerning Turkey's application for membership. Another senior officer labeled Europe's calls for increased rights for Turkey's 12 million ethnic Kurds as "a threat to national unity." That puts Turkey's civilian government in a serious dilemma--to risk a bruising confrontation in Parliament, possibly as early as this week, or back down on some of the urgent reforms demanded by Brussels. All this is sure to give Europeans pause as they contemplate whether or not to begin accession talks with Turkey next year.

The United States came under even harsher attack. Bashing America for seeking to impose its "hegemonic" will on the world, Ozkok's deputy, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, indirectly accused Washington of ignoring Turkish security concerns in Iraq. The salvo stunned U.S. officials. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz had criticized Turkey's military for not "playing the strong leadership role that we would expect" during the run-up to war, when Parliament failed to approve U.S. plans for a "northern front." Still, Washington recently approved a $1 billion aid package, and Secretary of State Colin Powell, visiting Ankara, referred to Turkey as "a good friend." "We thought it was time to let bygones be bygones," says one senior U.S. official in Ankara.

What's going on? Clearly, the Army's harsh rhetoric was a shot across the ...