What Has Been Happening in Military Exams?!

Article 6, paragraph 1/a of the National Defense University Military Schools Regulation, published in the Official Gazette on March 23, 2021, and titled “Main principles of education and training in military schools,” states:

“Students shall be provided with a sense of service and professional values tied to the principles of a democratic, secular, and social state of law, in line with Atatürk’s principles and reforms and Atatürk’s nationalism.”

However, as we saw in the case of the Tuzla Infantry School, a conflict over Atatürk occurred among lieutenants. Reports are coming in that similar incidents have taken place at other schools.

Following the incident at the Tuzla Infantry School, some rightly asked, recalling “FETÖ,” “Weren't lessons learned from July 15?” Those who defended the lieutenants alleged to be “cultists,” meanwhile, targeted the commanders and the curriculum, arguing that a “pro-coup mentality” persists within the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

Yet, as we have stated before, there were very fundamental issues we needed to discuss after what happened at the Tuzla Infantry School. Such as the destruction of the chain of command that makes the TSK the TSK after July 15, commanders becoming avoidant of taking responsibility, the closure of military high schools, and the removal of the term “reactionary” (irtica) from the entrance regulations for Military Academies and Vocational Schools for Petty Officers, effectively opening the doors to all sects and religious communities other than “FETÖ”...

You may also recall that a temporary article added to Decree-Law No. 678, issued after July 15, allowed retired officers and petty officers to serve on examination commissions responsible for recruiting personnel and military students to the TSK.

Did we not learn that, thanks to this regulation, certain names involved in the founding of SADAT took part in these examination commissions? Following this, did the Ministry of National Defense not announce that only one person associated with SADAT had served in 2017 and 2018, stating, “The reports have no purpose other than to discredit the MND, the TSK, and the National Defense University,” and then declaring that “legal proceedings have been initiated regarding the allegations”?

By the way, how did those legal proceedings conclude?!

Yes, with the expiration of that Decree-Law regulation on December 31, 2020, the practice of having retired officers and petty officers serve on examination commissions was abandoned, and it was envisioned that future exams would be conducted by MND personnel, while also “utilizing relevant personnel working in other public institutions and organizations.”

So, what actually happened in the exams held up to this date, and who was recruited? Could the Tuzla Infantry School example be a result of those recruitments?

“I DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN INTERVIEWS, I ACTED AS COORDINATOR”

We recently wrote about what that person, whom the MND claimed was the “only one person to serve” in response to allegations that “SADAT conducted the exams,” said regarding the Tuzla Infantry School. That individual, who claimed that Atatürk was being used as a stick to suppress religious people, also had things to say about the exams. Specifically:

He stated that he did not participate in the interviews himself, but acted as a coordinator to manage the flow of the interviews...

“The arithmetic average of the scores given by each member was taken, and the candidate's interview score was determined. In these interviews, which totaled 250 people, even if 1 person participated in the interviews; how influential could they be, for God's sake?” he said...

Defending that cultists and sect members were absolutely not recruited, he explained, “The officials conducting the interviews acted extremely sensitively and carefully. If they had been recruited, it would have already exploded by now with evidence and documentation; because among those officials, there were people of every thought and mentality, and even those who felt close to different political parties! There were minor disagreements and different evaluations. We would step in, find the middle ground, and reach a consensus. This was already normal for the health of the business.”

DID THESE HAPPEN? WERE THE INTERVIEWS RECORDED?

In the interview commissions before July 15, a “combatant member, an intelligence member, a faculty member who had received command and staff officer training, and a TSK psychologist” served.

The structure of the commissions after July 15 was arranged as follows:

“Chair (MND/civilian-military), a retired soldier determined by the MND, a combatant member representing the force command, a civilian member who is an MND bureaucrat, and a psychologist.”

After underlining this difference, let's come to the allegations regarding what happened in these commissions that served between 2017 and 2020.

- Instead of the retired soldiers reported by the Force Commands, names determined by the MND—who had been dismissed from the TSK or retired from lower ranks, and who had not worked in critical staff and headquarters—were assigned to the commissions...

- Although commission members were supposed to be determined by drawing lots, candidates were sent to commissions without any such drawing...

- It was observed that candidates who had previously taken the interview and received a score of 60 or below were somehow taken into the interview again...

- During the interviews, members other than the active-duty members used their mobile phones...

- The interviews were not recorded with audio or video...

- Upon the negative developments, the Force Commands proposed increasing the number of active-duty members to two, banning the use of mobile phones, making the exam 70 percent and the interview 30 percent effective, and also recording the interviews, but this was not accepted...

- Some candidates to whom active-duty members gave low scores and said “are not suitable for military service” were ensured to be successful in the interview through the pressure of the chairs or the chair giving a high score along with other members...

- Active-duty personnel who caused problems during the interview were not assigned to commissions during the procurement process and were kept in reserve...

- When some candidates said they “stayed in a dormitory of the Nur community or the Süleymancıs,” all members other than the active-duty member gave high scores. While one Commission Chair said, “I stayed there too,” the retired colonel representing the MND stated that “a good warrior must be a person of faith.” Some members also noted that sects and religious communities were “beneficial”...

- The “red lists” sent regarding candidates taking the exam were ignored...

- It was determined that the names of candidates with sect-community connections were sent to the mobile phones of some retired soldier members, and high scores were ensured for them...

- Rather than questions determining the military knowledge and abilities of the candidates, questions such as “What are the conditions of Islam?”, “What is the meaning and importance of Jerusalem and whose capital is it?”, “Who were with the Prophet during the Hijra?”, “What are the differences between the Hijri and Gregorian calendars?”, “Which call to prayer (ezan) is recited differently from the others?”, “Under what conditions can a coup be valid?” were asked...

Yes, these and many other things happened in the exams. We called them “allegations” because there is no documentation; however, as we have learned, when the events became widely known, the Force Commands took daily reports from the officers participating in the commissions. In other words, in a sense, everything was recorded.

Since nothing written in the state, especially in the TSK, can be lost, I suppose it will come to light one day and we will learn better what is what!..