Sharp response from lieutenants' lawyers to the Ministry of National Defense: Our greatest wish is that their professional futures are not darkened

Lawyers for the newly graduated lieutenants, who were targeted for saying "We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal" and against whom dismissal proceedings have been initiated, have issued a joint press statement.

In the lawyers' joint press statement, a call was made not to darken the futures of the lieutenants.

Here is that statement:

On November 21, 2024, reports appeared in some media outlets citing sources from the Ministry of National Defense that accused our clients of indiscipline, and it has become necessary to respond to these based on the source to which the statements were attributed.

The Ministry of National Defense's implicit public disclosure of its views before the High Disciplinary Board meeting creates doubt regarding the decisions that the members of the High Disciplinary Board will make later, when considering military hierarchy.

In this respect, the statements in question are unacceptable in terms of method and timing. Furthermore, the matters stated in the explanations are also misleading in terms of their content.

Specifically;

First and foremost, our clients' proposal to recite the officer's oath at the official ceremony was submitted to the command echelon, and upon its rejection, the military oath contained in the legislation was taken at the official ceremony. The order given to our clients concerned the oath to be taken at the official ceremony, and naturally, the requirement of the order was fulfilled, and the ceremony was conducted in accordance with the relevant directive. The relevant directive does not contain any regulation regarding how newly graduated officers should demonstrate their sword-crossing traditions and joy after the official ceremony. No separate order was given to our clients regarding what they should do after the ceremony.

After the official ceremony ended with the ceremony officer's announcement that "the ceremony is over" and the protocol departed from the ceremony area, the ceremony commander gave permission for the lieutenants to gather in the area by saying "you may enter the field," just as had been done in previous years.

In this manner, the lieutenants gathered in the middle of the field where the ceremony is traditionally held, crossed their swords, and recited the officers' oath. In essence, the officers' oath recited is the exact same text that was recited in the presence of the battalion's officers and commanders during a celebration held by the students among themselves the night before.

In this respect, there is no question of our clients failing to comply with any order. Furthermore, the officers' oath that is the subject of the controversy is a text that was recited in official ceremonies until 2022, and was even recited in the presence of the Minister of National Defense at the official ceremony held at the Special Forces Command on August 16, 2024.

Secondly, it is claimed that members of the press were invited to the ceremony area by the lieutenants. It is absolutely out of the question that our clients invited members of the press. On the contrary, our clients made the necessary efforts to ensure that no one other than the graduating officers was in the area.

The announcement made by the top-ranking officer of the school to clear the field after the official ceremony ended is clear evidence of this. Indeed, the accusation of "inviting the press" is not included in the request for defense order, in which our clients were asked to provide their defense within the scope of the administrative investigation, and the Ministry of National Defense's implicit statement is inconsistent with the scope of the official investigation.

In fact, there is no doubt that those who sent the press to the location where our clients were are malicious individuals trying to open a long-standing tradition to debate by making it appear as if it were being done for the first time.

Our greatest wish is that our lieutenants, the apple of our nation's eye, are not made the subject of political debates due to the continuation of a tradition that has lasted for decades, and that their professional futures are not darkened.

We respectfully announce this to the public.

Attorneys for Lt. Ebru EROĞLU, Lt. Serhat GÜNDAR, Lt. Batuhan Gazi KILIÇ, Lt. Talip İzzet AKARSU, and Lt. Deniz DEMİRTAŞ

Atty. Abdullah Yasin ÜSTÜNDAĞ

Atty. Çağlar ALTUN

Atty. Demet Reçber ÖZTÜRK

Atty. Ece ÜSTÜNDAĞ

Atty. Erhan TOKATLI

Atty. Ersin KAYA

Atty. İbrahim YILMAZ

Atty. İlter AKSOYLU

Atty. Dr. Mustafa GÜLER

Atty. Namık ÖZTÜRK

Atty. Serdar ÖZTÜRK

News Source: 12punto