The Ministry of National Defense's 'Agent' issue

An interesting expression appeared and was debated in the defense submitted by the Ministry of National Defense (MSB) in the lawsuit filed by lieutenants who were dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) on charges of "indiscipline" for reciting the Officer's Oath—which had been removed from regulations—and saying "We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal" among themselves after the official part of the Military Academy graduation ceremony.

The expression in the defense sent by the MSB to the Administrative Court was as follows:

"It is natural for the TSK to remove from its structure those agents who disrupt its service, damage its administrative mechanism, and harm the execution of the public service it has undertaken."

The term "agent" also caught the attention of experienced journalist Uğur Ergan, who, like us, wrote primarily on foreign policy, defense, and security issues at Hürriyet for 27 years. In his column in Gazete Pencere, after stating, "Doesn't the same thing come to your mind as it does to any normal person when 'agent' is mentioned? That is, a spy," Ergan quoted the definitions of the word "agent" from the Turkish Language Association (TDK) dictionary and asked Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler to explain why this expression was used for the lieutenants.

On the same day, the MSB held its weekly press briefing. During the information meeting organized by Spokesperson Rear Admiral Zeki Aktürk, Ministry sources clarified the word "agent." The statement, titled "Disinformation reflected in the press regarding the lieutenants," said the following:

"Regarding the use of the word 'agent' in the MSB defense, the mentioned expression is the term 'administrative agent,' which is the name given to a public official who carries out public activities on behalf of the state legal entity or other administrative authorities. It also covers other special-status public officials such as civil servants, judges, prosecutors, soldiers, and academics. This term is a legal term frequently used in literature for those performing public duties."

Upon this, Uğur Ergan wrote a second article, asking, "Where is the 'disinformation' in asking for an explanation?" and noted the following:

"So, they mean to say, 'They were not called spies in the known sense for the lieutenants; it was meant that they were TSK personnel.'... Then you should have used the expression 'administrative agent' in your defense and written what it meant. 'Administrative Agent (TSK Personnel)' would have sufficed. 86 million people know that the lieutenants were dismissed from the MSB upon instructions from the Palace just because they said 'We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal.' Excuse me, but the public is reactive and angry at your ministry and Minister Yaşar Güler regarding the lieutenants. For this reason, the public is closely following every development regarding the lieutenants. Therefore, I was astonished that the MSB and its legal staff could not think about how the lieutenants were being cast under suspicion in the eyes of the public with the word 'agents' in the defense."

Where is it written that it is "frequently used"?

Returning to the MSB's statement; the term "agent" is supposedly a "legal term frequently used in literature for those performing public duties."

Yes, in dictionaries of legal terms, the word "agent" is defined as "a person, civil servant, representative, or business follower who conducts the affairs of a person, company, or the state."

But let's see if it is frequently used in "literature."

Is it in the Constitution, the father of Turkish law? It does not appear even once...

It is supposedly used for state officials; is it in the Civil Servants Law? There are "civil servants, contracted personnel, temporary personnel, workers," but no "agent"...

Is it in the TSK Personnel Law, the Internal Service Law, or the Internal Service Regulation? No. Only expressions such as "officers, non-commissioned officers, sergeants, privates, military students, military officials, and civilian personnel working in the TSK" are used.

So, is it nowhere? It exists. In the MIT (National Intelligence Organization) dictionary, it is defined as "a person who can carry out intelligence and operational activities, provided that they are in an effective or guiding position towards a target."

Anything else?

As far as we can see, there is only a concept called "diplomatic agent" that appears in international conventions accepted or not accepted by our country and in legislation on "international judicial cooperation in legal matters." This is used in the sense of "a head of mission or a member of the diplomatic staff of the mission."

Indeed, it must be in this context; in the Presidential Decree No. 1 on the Presidential Organization published in 2018, the expressions "consular agency, consular agent" were included in the section regarding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' overseas organization.

Were we influenced by the USA?

After this interpretation by the MSB, it is unknown whether the use of the word "agent" instead of "civil servant or personnel" will become widespread; but it is known that it is used directly for state officials in the US legislation and management system.

When the USA is mentioned, for some reason, the so-called plans and correspondence in the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) conspiracy came to my mind.

For example; in a so-called document titled "Communication," it was written that the "main means of communication" for the units participating in the coup was "radio," and another note stated:

"On the first day of Ramadan, permission was granted for the broadcast of chapters from the Quran, the holy book of Muslims, from the Aksaz Base Radio."

In another, it was stated: "The coup plotters are in a panic. The materials have been given to a ship going abroad and it has been requested that they be thrown into the ocean."

The defendants of the conspiracy also drew attention to these in their defenses and said the following:

- "In the TSK, a radio is not used as a communication tool to establish contact; a walkie-talkie (telsiz) is used. Every Turkish officer knows this. So where did this radio issue come from? The Turkish equivalents of the English word 'radio' are 'radyo' and 'telsiz'. In other words, 'radyo' was used in the records as a translation error instead of 'telsiz'. This means this plan was first written in English and then translated into Turkish."

- "It is impossible for anyone within the borders of the Republic of Turkey, 95 percent of which is Muslim, to write the expression 'the Quran, which is the book of Muslims' in an official correspondence."

- "There is no such concept as 'throwing into the ocean' in Turkish. At most, one would say 'throwing into the sea'. Americans, in particular, use the word ocean instead of sea."

Let us also note that the so-called coup plan used a font style that did not exist at that time and included names of non-existent units, streets, avenues, hospitals, and shopping malls.

Expressions in the July 15 "Chaos Plan"

Similar allegations of translation and oddities also came to the agenda regarding the "Chaos Plan," which was stated to be in the General Staff Intelligence after the July 15 coup attempt.

In the General Staff Main Case, which began to be heard again recently after the Court of Cassation's reversal decision, one of the defendants, former Brigadier General Sinan Sürer, the then Head of the General Staff 1st Intelligence Analysis and Evaluation Department, explained that what was called the "Chaos Plan" was an official letter from the MIT, but it was served as if he had prepared it himself, and that no investigation was opened against him regarding this plan and not a single question was asked to him.

Sürer stated that 8 pages of that 19-page plan from 2013-2014 were about elections and the remaining 11 pages were about the AKP, and when he wanted to convey only the main headings of this section, he did not continue upon the warning of the Presiding Judge to remain within the scope of the file.

However, in his previous defenses, Sinan Sürer claimed that the text in question was "completely a translation," and pointed out that there were expressions such as "electronic democracy party," "Turkish-Qatari pressure council," that "torpil" (nepotism) was said instead of "torpido" (torpedo), that "terms contrary to military terminology that even an admiral, or even a military student, could not use were used," and that the districts, neighborhoods, and streets in Istanbul were mixed up and Istanbul was shown as if it were a neighbor to Greece and Bulgaria.

Look at what a single word "agent" reminded us of, wouldn't you?!

Müyesser YILDIZ

May 4, 2025