Those Who “Did Not Foresee” the Coup Despite So Many “Signs”!..

A pro-government writer, who calls everyone they encounter “those posing as legal experts” while supposedly being a “legal expert” themselves, targeted me without naming me before setting their sights on the 4 members of the High Disciplinary Board who opposed the dismissal of 5 lieutenants from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

That writer, whose name I do not feel the need to mention, while expressing their discomfort with me being the first to report on the dissenting opinion of the 4 members, openly and officially made the following slander:

“Who are we learning this from? From a so-called female journalist who exposed our MIT officers in Libya, perhaps causing them to be martyred, whose spouse once served in the police force but whose reach also extends to the military... Pay attention, who is with whom... Those who exposed MIT personnel are now acting as lawyers for the lieutenants chanting the slogan ‘We are Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers’... They are presenting the justifications of the Disciplinary Board members who took a stance in favor of the lieutenants to be dismissed as if they had signed a great legal manifesto...”

Reserving my legal rights, I will suffice with saying this for now in response to this slander:

All state units are at the other end of their phone. Let them go ahead, from the MIT to the Ministry of Justice, from Police Intelligence to the Presidency; let them ask whether “I exposed our MIT officers in Libya and perhaps caused them to be martyred,” and whether “I have been the subject of such an accusation!”

As for their insinuations that I somehow entered the cosmic room of the Land Forces Command High Disciplinary Board and obtained the dissenting opinion;

The dismissal decision for the lieutenants and commanders was announced on Friday evening, January 31. The decision was communicated to the lieutenants first verbally and then in writing on Monday, February 3. The lieutenants shared this with their lawyers that night. I received it from them and wrote it at midnight. It is that simple.

What I will say is; don't be jealous, work hard, maybe you will be the one to report it first!

DO NOT WORRY; THEY WILL BE PURGED AT THE SUPREME MILITARY COUNCIL (YAŞ)

Let us come to the main part of that article.

Since they are supposedly a “legal expert,” after criticizing the justification of the 4 members—including the Land Forces Command Chief of Staff and the Head of Legal Affairs, who is the only legal expert on the High Disciplinary Board—for saying “no” to the dismissal of the lieutenants, they commanded the following:

“In order not to lead to the unnecessary repetition of general orders and general prohibitions, which are known to everyone, to certain exploiters... The four members who objected to the dismissal of the lieutenants should also be dismissed from the TSK... If a staff officer, a colonel, says that lieutenants who still insist on a matter for which permission was requested from the commander and a ‘no’ answer was received are not engaged in a prohibited act... This mindset could also exempt a soldier who does not listen to their commander in war from disobedience to orders on the grounds that ‘the specific order given by the commander is not literally stated in the written rules’...”

As you wish!.. They will also be purged at the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) in August...

This mindset; in the near future, would it also say “those who do not vote for the AKP should be stripped of their Republic of Turkey citizenship”? Yes, it would!..

5 days have passed since that article. The Ministry of National Defense, which reminds us of the “reputation of the TSK” at the slightest criticism, unfortunately remained silent—just as it did regarding the vile insults directed at Lieutenant Ebru Eroğlu—about these 4 commanders in the brain trust of the Land Forces Command Headquarters being targeted!

THE COMMANDERS' CRIME

As is known; not only the 5 lieutenants but also the Military Academy Regiment Deputy Commander Colonel Alper Topsakal, Battalion Commander Staff Lieutenant Colonel Halit Türkoğlu, and Company Commander Major Murat Öztürk were dismissed from the TSK.

Their crimes, in summary; “not foreseeing that the lieutenants would commit such an act of indiscipline despite the presence of signs, and not taking measures against it...”

The following expressions were also included in the 5-0 decision regarding the commanders:

“Failing to grasp the importance of the matter... Causing damage to the reputation and moral personality of the State and the TSK as a result of attitudes and behaviors contrary to the requirements of their duties and responsibilities, despite the position and rank held...”

Let us assume these three commanders committed these “crimes.”

There is the testimony of the Military Academy's civilian Dean, Prof. Dr. İbrahim Ethem Atnur himself; he informed the National Defense University Rector, Prof. Dr. Erhan Afyoncu, on the afternoon of August 30 that the lieutenants wanted to recite the Officer's Oath during the official part of the graduation ceremony...

Let's say the commanders' foresight was blocked; why didn't the dean and the rector take measures? Do they have no “duties and responsibilities” that they are not being held accountable as well?!

Let us move past this and come to the July 15 coup attempt.

Months before, dozens of people sounded the alarm... The MIT and the Police reported the “FETÖ” members in the TSK by name... Ankara Public Prosecutor Serdar Coşkun, in the “FETÖ” civilian umbrella indictment he prepared and sent to the court 1 month before July 15, wrote that “FETÖ has reached the power to stage a coup in the TSK”... Finally, on the afternoon of July 15, Major O.K., serving at the Army Aviation Command, went to the MIT; according to the General Staff and the MIT, he gave a tip-off about an "attack on the MIT," and according to O.K., about a "coup."

Even with so many “signs” present, July 15 happened; hundreds of our people were martyred, thousands became veterans. Many commanders, primarily the then-Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar and 2nd Chief Yaşar Güler, were taken into custody.

But no one asked them whether they “fulfilled the duties and responsibilities required by their positions and ranks.”

While even privates were punished for “not understanding that a coup was taking place and following the orders of the coup-plotting commanders,” let alone trainee lieutenants and military students, the command echelon was not even accused of “causing damage to the reputation and moral personality of the State and the TSK.” On the contrary, as if nothing had happened, their positions were elevated!..

How can one not say, “Is this fair, is this acceptable?”

WHAT IS THE ACROBAT HIDING?

Although it was they themselves who blew up a joyful celebration held by young lieutenants after the official ceremony with “junta, coup” rhetoric, another pro-government writer asked: “What did the acrobat showing us the lieutenants hide from us?”

It is not just the lieutenants!.. The arrest of Ümit Özdağ... Anyone who opens their mouth being subjected to an investigation... The Gezi file being reopened after all these years... Even the demand for accountability from the “media and civilian wing” of the February 28 process from 28 years ago...

I wonder what those who show us these things have hidden, or are hiding, from us?!

Müyesser YILDIZ

February 9, 2025