What if I crumpled up a photograph of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan…

For days, we have been talking about the events that began at the Tuzla Infantry School when a lieutenant did not pin a photograph of Atatürk to his uniform on November 10…

Not only did this lieutenant fail to pin the photo, but he crumpled it up and put it in his pocket; a scuffle broke out between the friends who supported him and the lieutenants who warned him.

In the end, those who warned them were sidelined, just like those who committed and supported that act of disrespect.

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Minister of National Defense and former Chief of General Staff, retired General Yaşar Güler, keeps making statements, and instead of explaining the sectarian structuring within the army, he tries to make the other officers who intervened against the bigoted lieutenant appear as if they were the guilty ones.

Now I ask the question in the headline:

As an ordinary Turkish citizen, what would happen to me if I crumpled up or tore a poster featuring a photograph of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan?

For those who say “Nothing would happen,” let me give a few examples from the past:

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In the İsmetpaşa neighborhood of the Kalpaklı district in Tekirdağ, an individual identified as Y.S. was detained for tearing a poster of President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 61st Street.

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In the Kuşadası district of Aydın, a person alleged to have torn down posters of President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hung on billboards was detained.

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In Ordu, an arrest warrant was issued for an individual who cut a poster of the AKP’s presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with a knife.

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In Adana, three children alleged to have torn photographs of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were detained.

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In Mersin, a high school student alleged to have drawn a mustache on a photograph of Erdoğan was arrested.

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I could give dozens more examples like these regarding Recep Tayyip Erdoğan…

But it is not just him!

All those in power are “untouchable…”

Here is an example from the then-Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım:

In İzmir, Erol P., Barış B., and Lokman D. were each sentenced to three months in prison after a lawsuit was filed against them for damaging posters containing photographs of Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım.

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The situation is clear…

It is a crime to tear, draw a mustache on, or puncture the photographs of the AKP President or prime ministers…

Yet, when a lieutenant crumples a photograph of the founder of our Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, not only is that an issue, but “those who warned the person committing this crime” are also considered guilty!

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Minister of National Defense, Mr. Yaşar Güler…

12punto writer, dear Müyesser Yıldız, has revealed it. People in turbans and robes are running rampant in the corridors and dormitories of the Infantry School in Tuzla!

Are you now going to “normalize” them as well and blame those who leaked this information to the press?

More importantly, is this how you are going to fight against reactionism and bigotry?

Some bigots you have made officers in the Army of the Republic, for which you are responsible by having served as Chief of General Staff and now as Minister of National Defense, are rebelling against secularism and Atatürk in this way, and you are just watching; is that it?

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It is a crime for a fifteen-year-old child to draw a mustache on a photograph of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; that is why this state arrests him…

Yet you are still investigating a bigoted officer in Atatürk’s Army for insulting Atatürk…

Along with that officer, you are also attempting to punish the soldiers of Atatürk who intervened against him…

I condemn you.

You are destroying the reputation of Atatürk’s Army!