The Turkish government has won its power struggle with the General Staff. Now that the primacy of politics has been established, democratic control of the military has improved. However, the government now faces a challenge of a different nature. Behind the scenes, conservative Islamic movements are exercising strong influence on parts of the security sector. Now Turkey needs to strengthen oversight of the government by state bodies, an independent judiciary, free media, and civil society. Such oversight can only be success -ful under the rule of law. If Turkey does not transform itself now into a fully-fledged democracy, it will slide backward toward authoritarian rule.