Elections, War, and the TSK!..

Immediately after the March 31 elections, the National Security Council (MGK) convened on April 4 under the chairmanship of Erdoğan.

Following the meeting, a 6-point statement was issued regarding internal and external developments related to security. The 6th and final point of the statement concerned the elections. It stated:

“It was emphasized that satisfaction was felt regarding the fact that the March 31, 2024, local administration general elections were held in an environment of peace and security, worthy of our strong democratic tradition, through the discernment of our citizens and the diligent efforts of all our institutions.”

These expressions “impressed” a columnist for the pro-government media so much that they summarized their assessment as follows:

“Have I ever seen such an expression in an MGK declaration before? I don’t remember at all. It was a point that gave me great hope for the sake of democracy, maturity, and the future... It was an MGK statement that proved, and even declared to the world, what kind of democratic maturity Turkey is in, which I am happy about for the sake of democracy... Just think; as the President of the MGK, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signs this declaration. Even though his party lost votes in the election... This democratic maturity is recorded in the MGK, the highest council in terms of the survival and security of the state. Why is it important? Because; all formations that are anti-democratic and above the national will are a threat to the nation and the state. In this respect, the 6th point of the MGK declaration is even more important. Well done. I applaud this maturity... Instead of pulling a huge country, a magnificent state, from both sides; if we could just catch our breath with this atmosphere coming from the MGK declaration. Wouldn't that be good?”

IF DEMOCRACY IS JUST BEING ABLE TO VOTE?!

Although it is not quite clear, did our author also intend to imply how much our military has democratized and matured through this statement by the MGK? If so, let us remind you of this:

Civilians, not soldiers, now dominate the MGK. Therefore, one should not be surprised by such a statement!..

Let us come to the main point.

If democracy is only about voting and elections passing without incident—though there were incidents at the ballot boxes here and there on March 31—yes, this was a gratifying picture.

But what about the events that occurred during the election process;

The state institution TRT allocating 6.5 hours to the ruling party and 67 seconds to the main opposition party,

Erdoğan, who is the head of both the state and the AKP, traveling from rally to rally and threatening voters by saying, “If there is no vote, there is no service,” and “If we are not here, there is no natural gas,”

Erdoğan and his 17 ministers fighting against Ekrem İmamoğlu in Istanbul,

The Ministers of Interior, Justice, and National Defense, who are directly responsible for the security of the elections and are also members of the MGK, campaigning for the AKP, 

Where did events such as the discovery that votes were cast on behalf of our citizens who lost their lives in the earthquake in Hatay, and the realization that there was cheating in the counts in many provinces, fit into this “strong democratic tradition”?!

WHERE DOES THE MSB STAND IN POLITICS?

Let us put the MGK declaration aside and examine where the Ministry of National Defense (MSB), to which the entire nation's army, the TSK, is attached, stood during the elections.

Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler is a retired soldier and a former Chief of General Staff, but it has become a normal occurrence for him to campaign for the AKP as required by the presidential cabinet system.

Indeed, Minister Yaşar Güler visited many provinces during the election period. However, he also took the Chief of General Staff and the Force Commanders with him. During the day, he visited local administrators with them. AKP deputies and officials were usually with them as well. Let us say we are “used to” this; what are we to say about the fact that only AKP members were present at the iftar dinners held in barracks with martyrs' families, veterans, and soldiers in the evenings?!

EXERCISE OR ELECTION?

As is known, allegations that “soldiers were transported” to Kars, in particular, were widely discussed during the elections. The CHP, which asked about this, was informed that an “exercise would be held.”

First, let us convey the allegations contained in some posts in WhatsApp groups belonging to soldiers.

It is claimed that documents were prepared retroactively stating that the change of address was voluntary and soldiers were asked to sign them. It was reported that those who did not sign would not be granted leave and would be made to undergo training on the weekend.

When some soldiers asked their commanders to provide a written order to sign this document, they were told, “Orders cannot be issued retroactively.”

As for the exercise issue;

Four days after the elections, a news report appeared in the media titled, “Winter Exercise-2024 held in 16 provinces.” The report stated;

- That the exercise, which is held every 2 years within the scope of the annual planned training of the Land Forces Command, started on March 5 and would end on April 5,

- That the mobilization exercise was held in Ağrı on March 5-6, the Artillery and Commando Mixed Unit Training in Tatvan on March 18-25, the Unfired Battalion Task Force Exercise in Ağrı on March 29, the Border Security Provision Exercises in Ağrı/Doğubayazıt on March 20-28, and the Fired Battalion Task Force Exercise in Kars on March 31.

According to the news, the exercise started on March 5; however, when we did a little research, we saw that “Winter Exercise” footage was shared on the Ministry of National Defense website on January 10...

Likewise, the Land Forces Command only issued a press release regarding the “Winter-2024 Exercise” on April 1, just as the exercise was about to end...

Now let us look at the timing of past exercises.

The 2019 exercise; February 4-22,

The 2021 exercise; February 1-12,

The 2023 exercise; was held between January 18 and February 2.

Since the exercise in question is held every 2 years, let us come to the crucial question.

Why was the exercise, which should normally have been in 2025, held this year and—unlike the previous ones—carried out between March 5 and April 5?!

Without going into the WhatsApp correspondence of some soldiers regarding this, let us look at the statement made by MSB sources after the election regarding soldiers voting en masse in the East and Southeast. They said;

“Every Turkish citizen who has reached the age of 18 has the right to vote and participate in referendums. Within the scope of our Constitution and relevant legislation, privates and non-commissioned officers under arms and military students cannot vote. Other personnel who perform the military profession professionally, excluding those in the specified statuses, exercise their right to vote to fulfill their civic duty within the scope of the principles of the legislation in force.”

Okay, that is the legal situation; but where is the answer to the allegations of forced address changes or the “exercise” information given to the CHP?!

Whatever happened, it is over, but here is what we are getting at: Since the AKP has started to account for its election loss;

With our country caught in a ring of fire on all sides due to the superior (!) contributions of its administration—such as the acceptance of the Greater Middle East Project (BOP) co-presidency, the contribution to the fragmentation of Iraq, Syria, and Libya, and the approval of Sweden and Finland's NATO membership—and with the third world war knocking at our door, shouldn't the first lesson to be learned from March 31 be that the military should no longer be used as a tool for politics?