Nation-state, Turkish military and the EU

Is the Turkish military in favor of Turkey's accession to the EU? Given the lack of enthusiasm on the part of the EU and the Turkish government at the moment, this question may appear rather irrelevant. But to understand the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government slowing down on the EU reforms, providing an answer to this question is important.
As EU membership is increasingly described in terms of the very survival of the Turkish nation-state it becomes very difficult for the government to push for risky political reforms. An aggressive EU integration process by the government may thus increase the tension and conflict within the state between the reformist government and those resisting bureaucracy, mainly the military and the judiciary. So the government is cautious.
Yet Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ declared recently that the military is not against EU membership provided that the EU doesn't target the "nation-state." So for the military preserving the "nation state" while acceding to the EU is a must.
This is exactly the point. This means that the military leaders merely pay lip service to the EU membership goal but resist reforms needed to get Turkey into the bloc, the reforms that they regard as weakening the nation-state. Everybody knows that EU membership requires a revision of the traditional notion of sovereignty and the nation-state.
Isn't it a nice public relations affair on the part of the military both in Turkey and Europe?
They know perfectly well that in the accession process political reforms have to be continued, including a more transparent military budget and a democratic civil-military relationship. Instead of saying this directly they prefer to refer to the notion of the nation-state.
This gives an image that the military wishes to see Turkey in the EU but not changed, transformed or reformed. My guess is that even if the EU decided to take Turkey in today the military would oppose it. This time the military will ask the EU to change itself before Turkey is allowed to join.
Will the Turkish military be prepared to be part of the EU where there are supranational institutions that are in no way under the control of national governments? The EU is an entity in which supranational institutions, such as the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank, have power over national governments. The Lisbon Treaty is meant to increase the supranational character of the EU at large. Decision making in the European Council, an intergovernmental body, will be significantly changed in a way to reduce further "national sovereignty."
So, how would the Turkish military fit Turkey into this increasingly supranational entity while keeping the Turkish nation-state intact? Is the military prepared to give up national currency (it is not a must, but very likely), accept a European Central Bank, European defense and foreign policy and jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice? How would the military defend its business interests such as OYAK Holding in an EU member Turkey?
There is no way to go on with a conventional nation-state in the EU, which is increasingly becoming a transnational entity going beyond traditional functions, organization and duties of a nation-state.
If the military really wishes to be part of the EU it must be prepared to revise the traditional notion of the nation-state. But we see quite the contrary: It puts forth maintaining the traditional nation-state as a prerequisite to membership. This means that either it does not understand what the EU is or just does not want to be part of it.
Let me conclude on why the Turkish military is against EU membership: Turkish generals want Turkey to be ruled in Ankara not in Brussels. They think so long as Turkey is ruled in Ankara they will somehow control or share power with the politicians. They know perfectly well that they will have no seat in the power-sharing mechanisms of Brussels.
29.09.2008