Statement from the Ministry of National Defense regarding those allegations: If we give them descaler, some drink it and commit suicide!

Halk TV columnist İsmail Saymaz wrote that he received a response from the Ministry of National Defense after he brought up allegations made by E.B., a soldier serving his mandatory paid military service at the General Kenan Evren Barracks in Istanbul, claiming that the sinks, shower cabins, and toilets were extremely dirty and that a large number of soldiers were poisoned by the food.

İsmail Saymaz stated the following regarding the matter:

"Last Thursday, in this column, I wrote about the allegations concerning the General Kenan Evren Barracks in Istanbul, where over 900 soldiers are serving their mandatory paid military service. In my article titled 'Is it a barracks or a prisoner-of-war camp?', I conveyed the accounts of a soldier who had been discharged.

They called from the Ministry of National Defense (MSB) and informed me that the Training and Doctrine Command had launched an investigation following my article.

They provided the following responses to the allegations:

-There are points where the soldier is right and where he is wrong.

-The allegation of food poisoning is not true. No commander can give medicine to a poisoned soldier and send them away.

-There is no recorded incident of electric shock on the power line.

-On August 4, plaster fell in the building known as the private's pavilion. The area was secured. A technical assignment was requested for repairs.

-Bedding is washed once a week and changed twice a week. At least a thousand people pass through in two-to-three-month periods. No matter what precautions you take, there are times when it is not cleaned.

-There is some truth to the claims about the dirtiness of the showers and toilets. We cannot give soldiers chemical materials like descaler. There have been those who drank it and committed suicide, or were poisoned because they did not know how to use it.

-Water in the military canteen is 7.70 TL. The military canteen is open between 7-9, 12-14, and 17-22. There are five water vending machines. Water in the vending machines is 9 TL."