Turkish Prime Minister Recepp Tayyip Erdogan is planning to abolish the army chief of staff position and merge it with the Ministry of Defense, a Turkish daily reported Saturday.

According to the Turkish daily, Prime Minister Erdogan’s directive is meant to transform the concept of ‘defence’.

The position will cease to be independent and will exist only within the framework of the defence ministry. A defence ministry signboard will be placed at the current headquarters.

Erdogan is pushing for a redefinition of Turkey’s defence policy to better fit the EU criteria for characterising the relationship between civilians and the army.

This project is meant to be secretive and distant from public opinion, until it is fully assessed.

The model will be similar to that of the US defence ministry in terms of the civilian-army relationship.