A 'perfect' purge in the lieutenants' incident!..

The aftershocks continue following last year's graduation ceremony at the Military Academy, where lieutenants crossed their swords and recited the Officer's Oath, declaring, "We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal."

As is known, first, the top-ranking graduate Ebru Eroğlu, along with Talip İzzet Akarsu, Batuhan Gazi Kılıç, Deniz Demirtaş, and Serhat Gündar, were dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) on charges of "indiscipline."

The expulsions were not limited to the 5 lieutenants; the Acting Regiment Commander Colonel Alper Topsakal, Battalion Commander Staff Lieutenant Colonel Halit Türkoğlu, and Company Commander Major Murat Öztürk were also dismissed from the TSK on the grounds that they did not prevent the lieutenants.

While the three commanders, whose files were reviewed by the Ministry of National Defense High Disciplinary Board, were dismissed unanimously, the decision to expel the lieutenants was taken by a majority vote at the Land Forces Command High Disciplinary Board (YDK).

The 4 members who opposed the expulsion of the lieutenants were the Land Forces Chief of Staff, who was the YDK President at the time, the Head of Legal Services, the Head of Logistics, and the Registry and Seniority Branch Manager. Their grounds for objection were, in summary, as follows:

"Considering the attributed actions, the applications made by the top-ranking graduate and the senior cadet friends of the regiment to read the oath, which was not in the program and had been removed from the legislation, during the ceremony, and to make changes to the ceremony speech planned by the top-ranking graduate to commemorate a deceased cadet classmate, fall under the provision that 'Every soldier shall make their application regarding official and personal matters verbally or in writing, starting from their nearest superior through the chain of command.' These applications were rejected each time, and an order was given that the oath contained in the currently effective National Defense University Ceremony Directive would be read at the official ceremony. Indeed, the oath in the effective directive was read at the August 30 official ceremony. There was no known and specific order regarding the service that the said oath would not be read at the end of the official ceremony. The statement 'We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal' made at the end of the official ceremony and the content of the read oath do not constitute a violation of the law when considering Article 2 of the Constitution and the articles of the Military Academies Law, and therefore, they were not justifiably made the subject of a disciplinary investigation. On the other hand, when the issue of some cadets reading the said oath in an unplanned manner during the celebration held the previous night is considered and evaluated together, the personnel's action cannot be accepted as an attitude or behavior that would damage the reputation of the State and the TSK, or as an act constituting a serious crime or indiscipline. Consequently, it would not constitute the indiscipline of 'engaging in behaviors that hinder service,' which requires the penalty of separation from the Armed Forces. A contrary acceptance would not be in accordance with the principle of 'proportionality,' which includes the sub-principles of proportionality, necessity, and suitability, nor would it be in accordance with equity. Therefore, as we are of the conscientious conviction that a decision should be made that there is no place for imposing the penalty of separation from the Armed Forces on the personnel, we did not join the opinion of the majority to the contrary."

Following this, the following events occurred:

First, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Tevfik Algan was sent to a winter exercise, and subsequently, he was placed under the command of the 3rd Army Command. Upon this, Lieutenant General Algan requested his retirement, meaning he resigned.

Meanwhile, the duty station of the Head of Logistics, Brigadier General Hakan Tutucu, was also changed, and he submitted his retirement petition one week after Algan.

Only the Head of Legal Services and the Registry and Seniority Branch Manager remained.

As we have learned, within the scope of the appointments made in recent days, the Judge Colonel who was the Head of Legal Services was sent to Gallipoli, while the Personnel Colonel who was the Registry and Seniority Branch Manager was assigned to the Inspection and Evaluation Branch, which is a more passive duty.

Thus, a "perfect" purge, in the literal sense of the word, was carried out within the Land Forces Command High Disciplinary Board in 4 months!..

WAS THE CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT WHO DETAINED MURAT ONGUN ARRESTED?

Let us share another piece of inside information.

As is known, in the operation against "FETÖ" in 36 provinces centered in Istanbul in recent days, exactly 61 active-duty personnel, including colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors, and captains, were arrested within the scope of the payphone investigation.

The allegation is that a ByLock operation was also carried out in the Police Department during the same days, but for some reason, it did not become a topic of discussion.

It is claimed that among those arrested within the scope of this operation is a chief superintendent who carried out the detention process of Murat Ongun, an advisor to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, on March 19.

In the corridors, many allegations are being voiced that this chief superintendent, besides being a ByLock user, had a code name, entered into a catalog marriage, and was also involved in the investigation regarding the Newborn gang.

Returning to the operations centered on the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality; first, a message was given on a website close to the government that there was a leak regarding the operation and that a conflict had occurred between the Prosecutor's Office and the Police.

Subsequently, it drew attention that the third wave operation on May 20 was carried out by the Gendarmerie instead of the Police Financial Crimes Branch, and the reason for this was debated.

If the allegations that a ByLock operation was carried out in the Police Department and that the chief superintendent who detained Murat Ongun was among those arrested are true; it is understood that very strange things are happening and "operations within operations" are taking place!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

June 1, 2025