The General and the Lieutenants

One of our successful journalists, Barış Terkoğlu, has once again broken a striking story, announcing that Major General Mete Kuş, Commander of the 3rd Main Jet Base in Konya, has been reassigned to the headquarters. What was striking was the reason for Major General Kuş's reassignment. According to allegations, he had flown fighter jets and helicopters over the stadium during the Tümosan Konyaspor-Fenerbahçe match.

Immediate reactions came from two newspapers that are staunch supporters of the government. The Sabah newspaper argued that the flight, which was alleged to have been conducted to support Konyaspor during the match, was not a gesture of support but rather a planned, scheduled, and long-standing routine training flight within the scope of "night vision goggle" training, emphasizing that the aircraft noise was heard in the stadium because the stadium is located approximately 3 nautical miles from the airfield. While stating that Major General Mete Kuş was being targeted with these baseless reports, Sabah also recalled that Kuş was at the head of the air protection team that guarded Erdoğan's plane on the night of the July 15 coup attempt, and that Erdoğan, while waving to greet the F-16 accompanying him on a flight in 2017, had said to those beside him, "This is our Mete."

DID ÖZGÜR ÖZEL REMOVE HIM FROM DUTY?

The reaction from Yeni Şafak was even harsher. It was claimed that the flight had been a planned flight ongoing for a month, that the flight also took place during the Konyaspor-Trabzonspor match played after Mete Kuş was removed from duty, and it was explained that Major General Kuş had long been a target of "FETÖ" and "FETÖ-like" organizations, that he had drawn attention with the scenarios he developed against anti-Turkey elements, especially Israel, in recent exercises, that Kuş was very sensitive regarding defense industry projects, and furthermore, that Kuş's serving at a base like Konya while the Israel-Iran war was ongoing had seriously disturbed certain circles. In short, it was said, "Turkey's enemies were disturbed by Kuş."

Let us pause here; since CHP Chairman Özgür Özel or the CHP's Deputy Chairman responsible for the Ministry of National Defense, Yankı Bağcıoğlu, did not remove such a successful and important figure from duty, whom has Yeni Şafak accused?

Let us continue. Yeni Şafak also noted that while there was no official statement from the Ministry of National Defense, the information that Kuş was removed from duty due to the allegation of flying planes over the stadium was spread by FETÖ-affiliated accounts, and that the MSB's silence regarding these allegations brought question marks with it, while also mentioning that Erdoğan had used the expression "Our Mete" for Kuş.

However, on the same day, the MSB made the following statement under the heading "Change of Command at the 3rd Main Jet Base" during its weekly press briefing:

"The preservation and maintenance of established discipline in the Turkish Armed Forces is indispensable. As we have emphasized before, our Turkish Armed Forces view all events within the framework of discipline and carry out procedures within the framework of relevant legislation."

It seems that, contrary to the claims of the pro-government media, Major General Mete Kuş had committed a serious "breach of discipline," was reassigned to headquarters, and an investigation had been launched against him.

AHMET HAKAN'S COMPARISON

The approach of Hürriyet Editor-in-Chief Ahmet Hakan, whom Erdoğan cited as an example to Abdülkadir Selvi by saying "He does what is necessary in his column," to the Mete Kuş case was also interesting.

After accepting that Kuş had flown military aircraft low to support Konyaspor and was removed from duty for this reason, Hakan made the following comparison:

"Military service is a matter of discipline and seriousness. What did we say about the lieutenants who organized an unauthorized oath-taking ceremony? No matter how pro-Atatürk they may be, what they did is a breach of discipline and does not befit military service. We say the same thing about the Major General Mete Kuş incident: Even if he fights FETÖ, even if he is a hero... What he did is a breach of discipline and does not befit military service."

WHAT HARM DID THE LIEUTENANTS DO TO WHOM?

A complete apples-to-oranges comparison!..

First; if the allegations are true, is Major General Mete Kuş flying TSK aircraft for the sake of his love for football not causing thousands, perhaps millions of dollars in damage to the country? Well, other than bothering some people, who was harmed by the lieutenants crossing swords among themselves after the official ceremony and reciting the Officer's Oath and saying "We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal"?!

Second; yes, 5 lieutenants, including top-of-the-class Ebru Eroğlu, were expelled from the TSK on charges of "breach of discipline"; but 4 members of the High Disciplinary Board that made this decision, including the then-Chief of Staff of the Land Forces and the Head of Legal Services, pointed out that there was no order regarding the period after the ceremony and that the content of the oath read with the slogan "We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal" was not contrary to the Constitution or the Military Academy Law.

Third; although administrative courts have for now rejected the applications of Ebru Eroğlu, İzzet Talip Akarsu, and Serhat Gündar, three of the 5 expelled lieutenants, the expulsion of Deniz Demirtaş was canceled and Demirtaş returned to duty. The case of Batuhan Gazi Kılıç has not yet been heard.

Fourth; in the cases filed by dozens of lieutenants who were seen in the second circle during that celebration of the lieutenants and were sentenced to the disciplinary penalty of "not leaving the place of duty for one day," it was determined that "there was no order regarding the period after the ceremony," and cancellation decisions were issued. Finally, the Bursa 3rd Administrative Court, which recently heard the case of Lieutenant E.E., unanimously canceled the penalty, stating, "Since there was no order given regarding the period after the official ceremony, it cannot be said that this order was not fulfilled."

THE ROBED AND TURBANED ADMIRAL INCIDENT

Let us make two more reminders regarding this comparison by Ahmet Hakan.

A week after the lieutenants incident, Erdoğan emphasized that they would not allow the army to be worn down again and used these harsh expressions:

"Recently, as you know, some exploiters appeared at the graduation ceremony and drew swords. Against whom are you drawing these swords? Now, all necessary investigations are being carried out regarding them, and those few ignorant people there will be cleaned out, God willing. We did not get here by chance. This could be 30 people, it could be 50 people. Whoever they are, it is impossible for them to be in our army. We will clean them out... We will not allow political scores to be settled through our army. We do not ignore a situation that would harm our army, which is known worldwide for its superior discipline, and we will definitely take the necessary steps within the framework of democratic oversight mechanisms."

I wonder if Erdoğan will also make any assessment regarding the allegations that Mete Kuş, whom he called "Our Mete," flew the planes arbitrarily?

The other detail; what could be the reason for the pro-government media, which targeted the lieutenants for months, to suddenly fall silent on the Mete Kuş incident, either in favor or against?

As a country, we also experienced the incident of the robed and turbaned admiral who went to a dervish lodge in his official uniform in 2021. An investigation was opened against him, but it was decided to retire him before the investigation was concluded.

While the lieutenants were expelled from the TSK in 5 months, let's see how long the investigation regarding Mete Kuş will take and how it will conclude?!