Is General A.Ç. from the Menzil sect?!

Although one side of the case is uncomfortable with me following and reporting on the hearings, I will continue to explain what is happening in the Gendarmerie organization for the sake of following the trail of the matter...

First, let us recall the subject of the case we have been following for 7 months.

On November 12, 2021, an argument between a captain and a master sergeant took place at the Gendarmerie Commando Special Public Security Command Training Presidency regarding "Atatürk and Vahdettin." According to the allegations, when Captain C.H., known for his heroism in the Olive Branch Operation carried out in Syria in 2018, called Vahdettin a "traitor" by referencing the Nutuk (Speech), Master Sergeant C.D. replied, "He who calls sultans traitors is a traitor himself." It is because of this argument that both a disciplinary investigation and a lawsuit were filed against Captain C.H.

In summary, the following occurred during the process:

In the report prepared after the argument was reported to the administration, Captain C.H.'s statements were not included... When C.H. objected to this, a second report was prepared... In both reports, only that argument was mentioned, and a disciplinary investigation was initiated.

However, during the investigation, based on the statements of Master Sergeant C.D. and other master sergeants in the room, it was written in the report this time that Captain C.H. also said the following:

"Those currently in power sold all the state's assets through privatization, they left nothing else to sell, what will they do now... The head of this state handed over our children's livelihood to his cronies, sold Türk Telekom to cronies for 5 million, and they sold it to the Arabs for 40 million, he had all the assets sold like this, he had his children buy 40 little ships, he had a huge building built for TÜRGEV in America with the state's money, all these people in power are traitors... Aren't they the ones who acquitted terrorists by setting up a tent court, aren't they the ones who let terrorists cross the border and had them welcomed with flags, aren't they the ones who filled the TSK (Turkish Armed Forces) with FETÖ members? They made Akar the Minister of National Defense now, this is what happens if you leave the country to the rule of one person... Turks have never left the administration to one man in any period of history, now they have left it to one man, the country's situation is getting worse every day."

Following this, Captain C.H.'s duty station was changed four times, he was given a salary cut penalty, he was suspended, and his dismissal from the Gendarmerie was brought to the agenda. Along with this, a criminal complaint was filed against him with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on the allegation of "insulting the President."

According to the claims of C.H.'s lawyers, when it was understood that the "Atatürk and Vahdettin" argument would grow, the "insulting the President" accusation was fabricated... So much so that the statements of all the master sergeants who testified against C.H. are identical down to the punctuation, even including word errors... And those who did this are the Menzil sect within the Gendarmerie...

Setting aside the lawyers' claims; even the Prosecutor who prepared the indictment against C.H. not only draws attention to the fact that "the statements of the four non-commissioned officers who testified against C.H. could be aimed at professional solidarity due to their being in the same rank and duty"; he also emphasizes that the allegations and accusations of "insulting the President" were not included in the report prepared after the incident, which is evidence in favor of C.H. But in the end, a lawsuit was filed against C.H. for insulting Erdoğan.

Their Statements Contradicted

The second hearing of this case was held last week. In the hearing, which lasted approximately 4 hours, three master sergeants who testified against C.H. and Gendarmerie Special Public Security Command Training President Gendarmerie Colonel N.T. were heard as witnesses.

The first witness, Master Sergeant C.D., while recounting the section we quoted above from the report verbatim and claiming that Captain C.H. insulted sultans and state elders, used the expression, "He said Hulusi Akar filled the MSB (Ministry of National Defense) with FETÖ members, but Tayyip's name was not mentioned." While stating that C.H. cursed at his mother, C.D. said, "I would shoot anyone who curses my mother. Our job is soldiering, the art of killing people."

In the continuation, the following dialogues took place in summary:

C.D.: "I went to Colonel N.T.'s office, he wasn't there. I called him on his cell phone, he said, 'I'm coming in a little while.' I went again, I presented the situation. He listened to everyone."

Judge: "Did he not write a report and listen verbally?"

C.D.: "I never saw the report he wrote, I had no news of its content. I only saw it when it reached the court."

Atty. Serdar Öztürk: "How did the Vahdettin topic come up?"

C.D.: "The word Vahdettin did not pass. It passed as 'the last sultans of the Ottoman Empire.' The word Atatürk did not pass either."

Atty. Serdar Öztürk: "What kind of procedure is followed when the President is insulted in the Gendarmerie? Is a report written? Did you tell your commander, Colonel N.T., about this too?"

C.D.: "Yes."

Judge: "Did you explain in detail what C.H. said, specifically referring to the President?"

C.D.: "No. He cursed at my late mother repeatedly. He didn't keep me long. He said, 'Okay, I will do what is necessary,' and sent me out."

Atty. Serdar Öztürk: "In his statement, N.T. says he wrote a report after talking to you on the phone. Look at this, there is no insult to the President in that report. Also, you explained that you went to N.T., and he called all the non-commissioned officers and met with them one by one. Was this report prepared after that meeting?"

C.D.: "I don't know, they didn't give it to me."

Erdoğan's Lawyer: "What's the Deal with the Constant Menzil Sect?"

During the cross-examination of C.D., when Captain C.H.'s lawyer Serdar Öztürk claimed that JÖAK Brigade Commander Y.Z.C. was a member of the Menzil sect, Erdoğan's lawyer asked, "The Menzil sect constantly... What does it have to do with the incident?" while the Judge said, "You are claiming this. Put the evidence in the file."

Upon this, Atty. Öztürk replied, "We asked you to write to the MIT (National Intelligence Organization) and ask if there is a Menzil structure in the Gendarmerie. But you refused. For example, General A.Ç. is from the Menzil sect. If he has an objection, I will face him anywhere. Therefore, they tried to fire this kid. A.Ç.'s signature is under most of the documents," while Erdoğan's lawyer reacted by saying, "He's still saying Menzil."

He Remembered Everything, He Didn't Remember This

The second witness, Senior Master Sergeant M.U., while voicing the same allegations regarding the content of the argument, said about Master Sergeant C.D., "Our friend has high national and spiritual sensitivities. We do too. But I didn't want to answer C.H."

When M.U. stated that he did not remember whether he met with JÖAK Training President Colonel N.T. after the argument, the Judge warned, "You remember so many things, but leaving this vague..."

However, M.U. started to explain their discomfort with me following every hearing. The Judge asked, "I'm not asking that. Did N.T. meet with you before you gave your official statement?" Upon M.U.'s answer, "He must have met," the Judge asked the question, "Did he meet or not?" once again. This time M.U. said, "He met."

M.U. answered Atty. Serdar Öztürk's question, "How did the Vahdettin topic come up?" by saying, "No names were mentioned. It was said 'Ottoman sultans'."

The dialogues continued as follows:

Atty. Öztürk: "Do you know that there is nothing about insulting the President in the report prepared by Colonel N.T.?"

M.U.: "I didn't write the report. My contemporary Colonel N.T. is a veteran heroic Turkish officer."

Atty. Öztürk: "When you learned, did you say, 'My contemporary, my commander, he reported the insult to the President on the phone, why didn't you write it?'"

M.U.: "I don't know the investigation process."

In his statement, while M.U. said, "Is everyone more Atatürkist than us?", the Court Judge drew attention to the contradictions between the statements of M.U. and C.D.

Meanwhile, when Erdoğan's lawyer complained, "It's been over two hours...", Captain C.H. replied, "My life is at stake, Mr. Lawyer. I am being tried for insulting the President."

Even C.H.'s Name Was Written Wrong in the Statements

The third witness, Gendarmerie Senior Master Sergeant H.F., while repeating the statements attributed to C.H., stated that he did not remember whether Master Sergeant C.D. told Colonel N.T. about the incident on the phone or whether he went to him.

When asked about the statement that Colonel N.T. also met with him, H.F. stated that he definitely did not meet with Colonel N.T., and noted that he did not know whether the Vahdettin topic came up because he was not in the room from the beginning to the end of the incident.

H.F., who answered the Judge's question, "There is not the slightest expression regarding the President in the report prepared by Colonel N.T. According to the procedure you have, is it normal?" by saying, "I don't know," replied to Atty. Serdar Öztürk's question, "Did you read and sign your statement? In the Gendarmerie's disciplinary investigation, your statement and the statements of the other two witnesses are the same down to the material errors. For example, C.H.'s name is written as C.Y. This is also in the statements of the other two witnesses. Is it normal? Did the inspectors put this statement in front of you?" by saying, "I am responsible for my own statement. I don't remember C.Y. Looking at the essence, I told what happened."

And the Commander: "Vahdettin's Name Was Mentioned"

The last witness heard was the JÖAK Training President Senior Colonel N.T., who prepared the reports. N.T., who recounted what Master Sergeant C.D. told him, stated that he met with all the other witnesses afterwards.

When the Judge said that witness H.F. stated that he did not meet with him, N.T. emphasized that he did. However, when H.F., who was in the courtroom, repeated that he did not meet, N.T. said, "I remember it wrong then."

Another question from the Judge was, "Did they pronounce Vahdettin's name?" Colonel N.T. replied, "Yes." When N.T. answered the question, "All of them?" with "All of them," the Judge reminded, "But they all said Vahdettin's name was not mentioned." N.T. said, "No, they said it."

Colonel N.T.'s statement was also completed with the following dialogues in summary:

Judge: "I am reading the report dated November 12, 2021. There are deficiencies in this report. You did not write about the President, privatizations, little ships, the one-man rule, etc. Why didn't you include what you learned on the phone in the report? Did you prepare the report before or after meeting with these 8 people?"

N.T.: "After meeting with all of them verbally."

Judge: "You learned these from all of them. Why didn't you write them?"

N.T.: "So that it wouldn't look like taking a stance against C.H. For the sake of being objective. That report was sufficient for the disciplinary investigation to begin. I didn't write them because I knew they would come out during the investigation process."

Judge: "What is the penalty for insulting the President in the military?"

N.T.: "Dismissal."

Judge: "There is a much more serious act than the act committed against C.D., an act that requires dismissal, a pile of information you learned. 7 people say he insulted the President, and you do not record this more serious one in the report."

Atty. Serdar Öztürk: "Look, they all said Vahdettin's name was not mentioned; but it was mentioned."

At the end of the hearing, while Captain C.H.'s lawyer Öztürk repeated his request to obtain information from the MIT regarding all community and sect structures, including Menzil, in the Gendarmerie, Atty. Süleyman Demirel İlbak said, "We thank Colonel N.T. He revealed the contradictions of the other witnesses and the setup. It turned out that the allegations regarding C.H. were fabricated. He faced unprecedented accusations because he called Vahdettin a 'traitor.' He has been a victim for 3 years."

The court rejected Atty. Öztürk's request once again and adjourned the hearing to December.

Happy holidays to all our readers.