The lieutenants did not 'pose'!..

Everything else is finished, and now they have fixated on the lieutenants going to Anıtkabir and having their photo taken.

Yesterday, someone decreed the following:

Sir, “Of course, there is no problem with the lieutenants going to Anıtkabir. Every Turkish lieutenant would naturally go to Anıtkabir. It is not their going, but their not going that would be considered strange”...

However, “Our lieutenants wanted to send a message with their Anıtkabir pose”...

And that message, of course, was not; “'My Ancestor! We committed an act of indiscipline. This is why this happened to us,' but rather, 'My Ancestor! This happened to us because we are your soldiers'”...

The lieutenants have been treated unfairly enough, and as the person who first published that photo, I have things to say to ensure no further injustice is done on this matter.

The lieutenants did not “pose” at Anıtkabir. They had the photo taken, like everyone who visits Anıtkabir, as a memento and to send to their families.

When I somehow found it and published it, they were the first to be shocked and reacted to me through their lawyers.

The lawyers asked me to remove the photo, stating that some might exploit it. I refused, saying, “Who, and by what right, would exploit it?” I wish I had removed it; but I had not anticipated that there were those waiting for such an opportunity.

Understand the sincerity of the lawyers on this matter from this:

Even though most of them are friends I have known for years, they cut off all contact with me, so to speak. Furthermore, they announced that they would file a criminal complaint against me.

I accept it, it is on my head and eyes. I also apologize to the lieutenants for the fact that they were subjected to attacks because of this as well.

I have a few more words for the exploiters:

If they had wanted to send a message with that “pose,” they would have gone to Anıtkabir in their uniforms—because the dismissal decision had not yet been served to them. They would have gone like that, and presumably, everyone would have recognized them, and they would have posed for photos with the crowds.

I wonder if I have made myself clear?

WHO DIVIDED SOCIETY?

Let us come to the justification for the dismissal decision taken by the Land Forces Command High Disciplinary Board with a 5-to-4 vote.

With this celebration among the lieutenants; “division has begun in society,” “the loyalty of the TSK, which emerged from the bosom of the nation, to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk has been questioned to a degree it never deserved,” “and thus the reputation of the TSK has been damaged in the eyes of the Nation.”

Let us recall;

When the lieutenants' ritual was reflected in the public eye; first and foremost, AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik and MHP Deputy Chairman İsmail Özdemir made positive statements.

And this event, which would normally have been forgotten in a day or two, grew and was blown out of proportion by politicians and some of the pro-government media.

AKP Deputy Chairman of Local Governments Veli Böke saying, “It is an unnamed coup. The little snakes must see the state's true sword.”...

MHP Leader Bahçeli calling for the lieutenants to be held accountable...

Erdoğan’s reaction, “Against whom are you drawing these swords?... We will clean them out.”...

Members of the Association of Those Who Defend Justice (ASDER), founded by the late retired general Adnan Tanrıverdi, the architect of the “New TSK,” asking before Erdoğan, “Against whom were these swords drawn?” and demanding that “those who shout 'We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal' be crushed” and proposing that the Military Academy be moved from Ankara to Erzurum...

National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler himself repeatedly stating “they committed an act of indiscipline,” thereby expressing a premature opinion...

Weren't these the real reasons why “division began in society”?!

ERDOĞAN IS “COWARDLY”

Let us share more.

Two days after the lieutenants made their defense at the Land Forces Command High Disciplinary Board, another member of ASDER claimed that “the Military Academy is the headquarters of coups” and that “the fascist mentality, led by the CHP, always provokes the soldiers,” while also accusing Erdoğan with the following expressions:

“Supporting President Erdoğan’s timid and cowardly stance against fascists does not befit honorable and patriotic people.”

Following the dismissal decision of the lieutenants and their commanders, ASDER President Attorney Namık Kemal Urhan, who argued that the decision was correct but incomplete, demanded that “the other lieutenants who participated in the pirate oath also be kept under surveillance.”

A TSK that does not speak out against any of these, and does not defend the lieutenants against the heavy insults and abuse directed at them... Did these not also damage the “reputation”?!

IF THERE WERE MILITARY JUDICIARY

As is known, the drums of war are beating all around us... Signals of an operation against the PKK in Syria are being given... Israel has come to our doorstep... But there is still no one mentioning the reopening of military hospitals.

A similar situation applies to the military judiciary. There is a military judiciary in all NATO countries. Except for Turkey.

No matter how much some turn this into a life-or-death struggle, what we would say is; if there were a military judiciary, would such a decision that hurts consciences so much be made about the lieutenants and their commanders, and furthermore, would the Land Forces Command and the TSK be dragged into such political debates?

Does the fact that the Head of Legal Affairs, the only legal expert on the High Disciplinary Board, cast a dissenting vote on the dismissal decision not say a lot?

Müyesser YILDIZ

February 5, 2025