The commander who hid in the basement on July 15!..

In our article yesterday, we criticized the fact that while there are very fundamental issues we need to think about and discuss regarding the future of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) following the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting on August 1 and the new appointments made on August 9, the media is once again focusing solely on promotions and new assignments.

In an environment where Erdoğan himself says, "Who can guarantee that those who are razing Gaza to the ground today will not set their dirty eyes on Anatolia tomorrow?" and furthermore speaks of "entering Israel" with the caveat that "we must be strong," and where Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says there is a risk of a third world war, the person who expressed our concerns very well was retired Rear Admiral Yankı Bağcıoğlu, the CHP's Deputy Chairman responsible for National Defense Policies.

For example, he drew attention to the structure of the YAŞ by saying, "While the Minister of National Education, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Treasury and Finance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of Interior, who occasionally carries out joint work with the TSK, are included, despite not having sufficient knowledge regarding the duties and responsibilities of the TSK, only the Chief of General Staff and the 3 Force Commanders are left on the military side in these meetings that will shape the future of the TSK."

He emphasized that in YAŞ meetings, political power centers, ministers and deputy ministers, advisors from Beştepe, rectors, and AKP provincial chairmen have more say than the Force Commanders.

He alleged that the basic criteria taken as a basis in the evaluations are not the performance, merit, and competence of the officers, but their political preferences, social media accounts, and the posts made by themselves and their families.

Criticizing the fact that hundreds of colonels are compulsorily retired every year and that it is not announced who has been retired, he asked, "There are colonels who are retired just because they do not share the same political views as the government or because they are Atatürkists," and posed the question, "Is the Ministry of National Defense (MSB) that selects the retired colonels for these critical tasks a different ministry from the MSB that proposes them for retirement? Or are the lists of those to be retired prepared by persons/authorities/units other than the MSB?"

Pointing to the tensions in our region and the world, he recalled how the unity of command in the TSK was disrupted after July 15 and stated that "he is curious about whether it was discussed at the YAŞ how a potential unity of command problem that could arise between the Minister of National Defense and the Chief of General Staff in a high-tempo operation could be resolved."

Likewise, in an environment where it is stated that a war or a general conflict situation is very close, he asked whether the issue of the military health system was discussed at the YAŞ, and if so, what decisions were taken.

You can see how many problems there are that we need to worry about and find solutions for quickly.

Has the Number of Retired Colonels Exceeded a Thousand?

After this main framework, let us share some more details from the YAŞ decisions.

Colonels are the backbone of the TSK. But the retirement of hundreds of them every year is talked about for a few days after the YAŞ and then forgotten until the next YAŞ.

The claim is that the number of colonels retired since 2017 has exceeded a thousand. It is impossible to understand why the MSB does not disclose the exact numbers.

Not only the numbers, but the list of those retired since 2020 is also not published. Fortunately, in last week's press briefing, MSB sources stated the reason for this.

It seems that "retirement notifications are made only 'personally' in order to protect the personal rights of the personnel"!..

It means there was no such concern as "protecting the personal rights of the personnel" until 2020, as the list was being published.

Furthermore, a total of 31 generals/admirals were retired this year and their list was announced. The "personal rights" of colonels are important, but those of generals and admirals are unimportant, is that it?!

Is the Navy Moving to İzmir?

For the last two years, it has been rumored in the lobbies that the Naval Forces Command in Gölcük would be moved to İzmir. The transfer of the 45-50 decare land where the command's lodgings are located to the Gölcük Municipality had also strengthened these claims.

While it was decided that Navy Commander Kadir Yıldız, who was promoted to Admiral in the last YAŞ, would continue in this position, a remarkable appointment was made to the Naval Forces Command in the following days.

Vice Admiral İbrahim Özdem Koçer, who was the Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces Command, was assigned as the Deputy Navy Commander in Yenikale-İzmir.

If the project to move the entire Navy to İzmir is true; let us suffice by saying, "I hope it has been thought through thoroughly."

One is in Prison, the Other is at Headquarters

We ended our article yesterday by saying, "There is a commander who has been appointed to an important position at the General Staff Headquarters. Let us tell you about him tomorrow." Now let us come to that.

Actually, when he was brought to an important position again in the YAŞ 3 years ago, we wrote about what he experienced on July 15. However, since he was appointed to a much more important position after this YAŞ, we wanted to remind you again.

Everything we have conveyed is from a court file related to the coup. The summary is as follows:

The then EDOK Schools Commander Lieutenant General Abdullah Barutçu was arrested immediately after July 15 and spent 1 year in prison. As a result of the trial, the court decided on his acquittal, the appellate court upheld it, but the Supreme Court of Appeals requested that he be punished for "aiding the coup." As a result of the retrial, Barutçu was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison and was arrested in the courtroom with the verdict and put back in prison.

Our subject is not Barutçu, but where he was and with whom on the night of July 15. In all his statements, he said that on that night, they took refuge in the janitor's room in the basement of the lodging where they lived with his wife and daughter, and after a while, when he learned that the then General Staff Logistics Department Head Major General and his family were in the building, he called them to join them as well.

While the pro-government media reported these statements with headlines such as, "The former Special Forces Commander who hid in the basement... The coup-plotting traitor who took refuge in the janitor's apartment... Hid in the janitor's apartment," the commander whom Barutçu stated was with him was appointed as the Deputy Secretary General of the MGK after July 15, and then as the General Staff Operations Chief.

In the case where Barutçu was tried, this commander was heard as a witness on January 11, 2018, and explained the following:

"We were at a wedding at the Gazi Officers' Club. When the news came that the bridge in Istanbul had been seized, we called some places. When the sound of jets was heard, the hall slowly emptied. The wedding had already gone out of control. My son was staying alone in the lodging. We tried to go to the lodging with our car to reach him. But all checkpoints were blocked. We entered by convincing the checkpoints, jumping over them, talking, and changing our route. After that, we started to follow the events. We started to learn that the events were a coup attempt, both from official statements and from our own assessment. Later, Rıza Çağatay Pasha, my commander who called me, and our Lieutenant General Abdullah Barutçu opposite him; they were sitting opposite each other. When the bombs started falling very close to us, they assessed that the families were scared, so they went downstairs. When they learned that we were also in the lodging at that moment, they invited us downstairs too. To the shelter, to the place where the janitor's apartment was in the basement. I remember there were people calling from outside, asking what was happening. In this situation, who is inside, who is outside, who is the police, who is the press, the guardhouses have changed. In this situation, I said, 'Commander, stay where you are.' Indeed, we received some messages later that proved and evaluated this. We received them both from the press and directly. Now I wish; I deleted it, I also changed the phone. Messages like 'Stay where you are, this is a coup attempt' came, I remember they came from both the Presidency and the Prime Ministry. Because I believe that our state will continue after these events pass. And since we were not in any formation, we would continue our activities in the service of our state, with the services it provided. Therefore, I spent that evening with my family, under their protection, taking care of them, and convincing a few people to 'Stay in place.' Indeed, on the 16th-17th, they said, 'Do not come to the General Staff.' Abdullah Barutçu was with his family that day, until the morning when the firing stopped, until the jets left the airspace; we were together. There was a broken television, belonging to our janitor. We tried to follow the agenda with it and as much as our WhatsApp could pull. We were always evaluating. With the brightening of the sky, I remember around 5-6-7, we went upstairs. We continued to follow from the press. Later, we started to follow from WhatsApp."

Following the statements, the lawyers asked that commander, "How did Abdullah Barutçu approach the attempt at a coup that night?" and how they interpreted the so-called appointment orders. The commander replied as follows:

"I swear before God, he said many times, 'Commander, now they will come and arrest us too.' By 'they will arrest,' I probably think he meant the coup plotters. Although I do not remember exactly; I looked at myself first anyway, what position we were in. I do not remember that subject there right now. But when I looked there, when I saw the name Mehmet Partigöç, you can already understand that this work was done by a group. When you are also taken into the order. If you see the name Mehmet Partigöç; I think that such a large assignment being made by Mehmet Partigöç is about a group, a group under his command doing it."

This time, he was asked, "What do you mean by group?" The commander replied, "I do not know them, inside. Because, in the assignments, you look, some continue, some to the order, some? You look at yourself. You say, 'We are outside of this group.'"

Metin İyidil, the number 1 defendant in the case where Abdullah Barutçu was tried, asked the question, "You are currently the Operations Chief of the TSK, the General Staff is 150 meters from where you are. You have a phone in your hand, didn't you think, 'Let's call' or 'Let's go and look'? Did you say, 'Let's wait until morning, let's protect our family'?" while his lawyers drew attention to this:

"The person mentioned is currently in a very important position. He is the General Staff Operations Chief. However, on July 15, perhaps due to his command preference, he did not engage in any activity and hid in a shelter. Even in the presence of your court, he referred to the organization as a 'group', and did not refer to it as the 'FETÖ/PDY terrorist organization'."

The commander who was mentioned in the incident of hiding in the basement on July 15 and who told these things was Kemal Yeni.

While Abdullah Barutçu was re-arrested in the courtroom on February 2, 2021, Kemal Yeni was appointed as the 1st Army Commander with the rank of Lieutenant General in the YAŞ 6 months later. In 2022, he was assigned to the Aegean Army Command. Last year, he was promoted to General.

And this year, he became the 2nd Chief of General Staff...