The minister's comments was rare government praise for the military's role in the EU accession process. Brussels says the reduction of army influence in politics is a key precondition for Turkey joining the 25-nation EU.

"The Turkish armed forces have given, and continue to give, very significant support to the EU membership goal and to the reforms," Gul told liberal daily newspaper Radikal.

"Contrary to what some people think, enacting the reforms would have been more difficult without the support of the armed forces," he said. "The strategic vision that soldiers have was instrumental in this -- they understand Turkey's future and where Turkey's interests lie."

Many of the far-reaching reforms Ankara has undertaken over the past several years to bring Turkey into line with EU standards of democracy have been aimed at limiting the army's powers and its role in political decision-making.

The reforms have been carried out against the backdrop of widespread mistrust within the army for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The AKP is an offshoot of a now-banned Islamist party which the staunchly secularist generals forced out of power in 1997.

"To be honest, we wish some civilian institutions had backed the EU process to the extent the armed forces have done," Gul said, without mentioning names.

The judiciary in particular has often come under fire for casting a pall on Turkey's commitment to democratic values by prosecuting intellectuals.

Gul stressed that a change in Turkish foreign policy in favor of a speedy settlement to the Cyprus conflict, a major stumbling block for Turkey's EU bid, "became possible with the contributions of the armed forces."

Turkey, whose troops have held the Turkish-populated northern third of Cyprus since 1974, threw its support behind a United Nations peace plan to end the island's three-decade-old division.

But the plan was killed off in April 2004, when the Greek Cypriots voted it down, even though the Turkish Cypriots gave it overwheliming support.

The Turkish army has swayed politics for decades. It carried out three coups -- in 1960, 1971 and 1980 -- and in 1997 forced the resignation of the country's first Islamist-led government, to which Gul and other AKP leaders belonged.