The Judge's Question in the “Menzil” Case: “What is a Gavs?”

Let us continue to recount what happened to an Ataturkist officer after he called Vahdettin a “traitor.”

First, let us clarify who Captain C.H. is.

In 2018, on the 41st day of the Olive Branch Operation in Syria, he was the officer who led an assault on the Keltepe region to prevent the bodies of our 9 martyrs from falling into the hands of terrorists, recovered the bodies, and subsequently planted our flag on that hill. Due to this heroism, he received the appreciation of Erdoğan through the Diyarbakır Regional Commander of the time.

Furthermore, after that operation, a photograph taken by Captain C.H. and his comrades-in-arms in Keltepe was shared on social media with the caption, “Mehmetçik strikes an Ataturk pose in Afrin.”

Yesterday, we briefly mentioned the incident that took place on November 12, 2021, at the Gendarmerie Commando Special Public Security Command Training Department. C.H., who was teaching there, was discussing training flaws and deficiencies with two non-commissioned officers in the teachers' lounge after class when the topic turned to the Ataturk-Vahdettin debate. While C.H. defended Ataturk and called Vahdettin a “traitor,” his interlocutor defended Vahdettin, retorted, “He who calls the Sultans a traitor is a traitor himself,” and accused the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). This was followed by an exchange of insults.

The incident was reported to the administration; however, a report was drawn up without C.H.'s account. Upon C.H.'s objection, a second report was prepared days later. Both reports only mentioned this argument, and a disciplinary investigation was launched.

WHAT WAS ADDED TO THE REPORT DAYS LATER?

During the investigation process, somehow, a section was added to the reports claiming that C.H. had “insulted the President” during the argument. According to the allegation, C.H. said the following during the dispute:

“Those currently in power have sold all the state's assets through privatization; they have left nothing else to sell, so what will they do now... The head of this state has handed over our children's livelihood to his cronies; he 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 in America for Türgev with state money; everyone in this government is a traitor... Aren't these the ones who established a tent court to acquit terrorists, aren't these the ones who let terrorists cross the border and welcomed them with flags, aren't these the ones who filled the TSK with FETÖ members? They have now made Akar the Minister of National Defense; if you leave the country to the rule of one person, this is what happens... The Turks have never left the administration to a single man in any period of history, now they have left it to a single man, and the country's situation is getting worse every day.”

From then on, a brand new process began for C.H. He was reassigned four times, given a salary cut penalty, and suspended. C.H. won 15 of the 16 cancellation lawsuits he filed against these administrative actions, but ultimately, 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 charges of “insulting the President.”

THE PROSECUTOR ALSO DETERMINED IT WAS NOT IN THE INITIAL REPORTS

Although C.H. explained in his statement to the prosecutor conducting the investigation that he absolutely did not insult Erdoğan and that he was being slandered, an indictment was prepared against him.

And look at what the Prosecutor writes in the indictment:

After assessing that the statements of the four non-commissioned officers who testified against C.H. “could be aimed at professional solidarity due to their being of the same rank and duty,” he emphasizes that the allegations and accusations of “insulting the President,” which are the subject of the investigation, were not included in the report prepared after the incident, and that this fact is evidence in favor of the suspect.

However, in the end, he still requests his punishment on the grounds that “there is sufficient evidence to create suspicion for a public lawsuit to be filed against the suspect for the crime of insulting the President.”

IS THE REAL REASON THE NOVEMBER 10 COMMEMORATION?

As is known, an incident alleged to have occurred on November 10 at the Tuzla Infantry School has been debated for days. While Ministry of National Defense sources say “disinformation,” they provide information that “a judicial and administrative process has been initiated.” What kind of judicial/administrative process is initiated against what and whom for disinformation? From the accounts of the official whom Saygı Öztürk from Sözcü spoke to yesterday, the conclusion is that even if nothing happened, something did happen.

WHAT DOES CAPTAIN C.H. HAVE TO DO WITH THE TUZLA INFANTRY SCHOOL?

Saying, “There is also a November 10 commemoration incident in what happened to him, that's why,” let us convey the defense of C.H., who appeared before the judge in recent days. First, he summarized the following:

“My professional life was spent in commando special operations. I performed all the duties a warrior could take on. Finally, I was appointed to train personnel. I made some warnings here about the activities of the teachers. I saw serious problems in the shooting range and negligence in safety measures. I determined that injustices were being done in the trainees' grades, but this incident was covered up. They have formed their own groups. I do not believe they are Turkish soldiers. I definitely did not make a political speech in that argument. While mentioning the problems regarding snipers, I gave examples from Syria for urban warfare. When they asked about the environment in Syria, I said, 'We went to Syria, the terrorists have started playing at statehood. I wish this operation had been carried out in 2011.' When the non-commissioned officer said, 'Those who go from Turkey are not terrorists,' the Ataturk-Vahdettin debate began. I replied, 'I am a comrade-in-arms of Ataturk, who fought against Vahdettin.' He said Ataturk was a coup plotter. I barely restrained myself. I stated that Vahdettin was a traitor and that anyone who does not call him a traitor should not be in the Turkish Army. Ataturkism is at the very beginning of our education. We learned not to take refuge in the enemy, but to go to Elmadağ and fight. I got angry and left. Later I returned and said, 'Are you calling Ataturk a traitor?' When he said 'Yes,' I cursed. He walked towards me. How did someone like this get a service record for 29 years?”

Continuing, he said, “The real incident started like this,” and recounted the following:

“Two days before the incident was November 10. I asked; they said no Ataturk commemoration ceremony was held. I reacted and went to the Colonel and said, 'Even foreigners commemorate him, how can this be?' Reluctantly, he replied, 'I cannot write it, you write it on WhatsApp.' I wrote it on WhatsApp, and the commemoration ceremony was held.”

C.H.'s final words were as follows:

“Those here have all served in comfortable places. I think they are a group that came by order after 2016. They clearly stated that they did not want me. Because my appointment was made by the Gendarmerie General Command. I am facing an incident similar to FETÖ. Among them are those who were removed from FETÖ and saved themselves by saying, 'I am a Menzil member.' When these came to light, the Disciplinary Board stepped in. They are so serious that they wrote my name as 'C.Y.' Either they wanted to protect that group, or there was a misdirection.”

After finishing his defense, when the judge asked if he wanted the “announcement of the verdict to be deferred,” C.H. said, “I did not commit a crime. I do not want it, out of respect for my honor and my profession.”

THE “GAVS” INFORMATION THAT SURPRISED THE JUDGE

C.H.'s lawyer, Serdar Öztürk, stated that the allegation of insulting the President was fabricated upon realizing that the Ataturk-Vahdettin debate incident would grow, and voiced the following claims:

“The main issue here is the serious investigation and determination of whether those who established the unlawful actions against my client, including those at the general rank, those who have signatures and initials under these actions, and the personnel who made this slander, are members of a sect in any way. Because we believe that a young officer's life has been darkened by applying the methods used by the Fethullahists in the past, and that some officers and generals who have signatures under these actions are members of a certain sect. My client made a naive defense. But we have to shove the truth into everyone's eyes. The incident took place between sectarian officers/non-commissioned officers and an Ataturkist officer. Forcing personnel to attend the commemoration program on November 10 was the last straw. If you remember, a deputy had announced that a Gendarmerie Lieutenant General had said, 'I will not leave a single Ataturkist in the TSK.' This person is the Head of Personnel of the Gendarmerie General Command. The incident here is the inability of the Menzil personnel in the Gendarmerie to tolerate Ataturkist officers. But we will settle the score. In this country, if someone annoys you, there are two catalog crimes: FETÖ member or insulted the President... Is a report retroactively and mistakenly drawn up regarding insulting the President?”

Attorney Öztürk also provided the following interesting information:

“I called the Menzil official in Ankara to learn the behind-the-scenes of the incident and spoke with him. He said, 'Our Gavs has no news of this. Let us examine it.' I had him write down who the sect members were, from the sergeant major to the general. He said, 'Yes, this general is our imam.'”

Upon this, the following dialogue took place:

Judge: “You are not giving names, I suppose. Will it stay with you?”

Attorney Öztürk: “I am not saying, but let these be known. The Gavs, the Seyyid came.”

Judge: “We know the Seyyid as someone who comes from the lineage of the Prophet, but what is a gavs?”

Attorney Öztürk: “As they listened to what we told them, their mouths were left open, they said, 'Oh, they believed a sergeant major's thing and went.'”

At the end of his defense, Attorney Öztürk requested that a letter be written to the MIT and the General Directorate of Security to request “information and documents regarding the structuring of the Menzil, Süleymancılar, and Kurtoğlu sects” within the Gendarmerie General Command.

The Prosecutor was also surprised

Another interesting incident occurred during the hearing.

The judge asked Attorney Muhammed Aydın, who attended the hearing on behalf of Erdoğan's lawyer Hüseyin Aydın, what he had to say. When Attorney Aydın was content with saying, “Our complaint continues for now. Let the witnesses be heard,” the Prosecutor reacted as follows:

“'For now' seemed very interesting to me!..”

After the Prosecutor gave an opinion in the direction of completing the missing issues, it was decided that C.H. would be exempted from attendance, and the hearing was adjourned.

His Last Crime: “Why Did You Let Yourself Be Slandered?”

These were what happened in C.H.'s first hearing, but there is one more important note we need to add regarding the investigation on the Gendarmerie front.

Finally, we mentioned that C.H.'s dismissal from the Gendarmerie was brought to the agenda. For this, the Ministry of Interior High Disciplinary Board, which gathered on September 19, Veterans Day, concluded that C.H. did not insult the President and did not see a reason for his dismissal, but gave him a 16-month rank suspension penalty.

Why? “Because he created the environment that would cause this slander to be cast upon him!”

You see what is happening in our country, which our Ata saved and founded, and what is being discussed in the courtrooms, don't you?