Officers' Club

Officers' clubs, in ourchildhood, were famous.

Like the military's vacation camps.

Entry was forbidden to civilians.

And because it was forbidden, it seemed mysterious to the public.

As ifinside, because there is a flashy life.

I was first taken to the Trabzon Officers' Club by my neighborhood friend who was attendingmilitary high school.

I waskicked out because I wasn't wearingdress trousers.

When I was a second lieutenant at the General Staff,I was staying at the Sıhhiye Officers' Club, even though I was occasionally kicked out because there was no room.

I stayed in a 10-person barracks for quite a while.

I ateand drank.

During mymilitary service, I went to the famous Antalya Karpuzkaldıran camp.

Iwanted to escape the gloomy atmosphere inside,stay for an hour or two and I had left.

It was like a nursing home.

I felt as if I had to report for duty at every step.

It did not have an atmosphere one would choose to drink cheap tea or soup.

Teachers' hto eatat theofficers' club I went to,I was not allowed in because I had stubble.

I have eaten at the officers' club in Eskişehir before.

Once, when a commander friend of mine invited me, I ate there for a low price.

Mind you, the local tradesmen's restaurants on the street behind the officers' club were both cheap and delicious.

AI also bought cheap baklava on my way out.

When I ate the dessert from the baklava shop across the street, I felt strange and couldn't finish it.

However, when I ate it at the baklava shop'sstore,I had neverexperienced such aproblem.

It turns out that the oil and pistachios in the baklava they sold cheaply to the officers' club were of the lowest quality.

Still, when I heard about Naim Babüroğlu Pasha's ban on the officers' club, I was saddened.

In the nineties, when Turkey was fightingterrorism, I served alongside Osman Pamukoğlu Pasha as a captainandchest tochestcombatWho, and for what reason, would deem a commander who has engaged in combat objectionable and ban him from entering the officers' club?

Yet, both professors in academia and commanders in the military were held in high regard, and no disrespect was shownto them.

While the traditions continue in academia, it seems some changes have taken place in the military.