Ahmet Davutoğlu supports disciplinary action against lieutenants: 'This is indiscipline'

Future Party Chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu expressed his support for the referral of the lieutenants, who were alleged to have organized the "sword oath" ceremony that marked the Military Academy graduation ceremony on August 30 Victory Day, to the disciplinary board with a recommendation for dismissal.

When asked for his opinion on the matter during his appearance on the Çalar Saat program on NOW TV, Davutoğlu made the following remarks:

"The state operates within a certain order. Otherwise, if we reduce the state and its institutions to symbols and slogans, it is very damaging. No one opposes the content. We kiss the foreheads of all those successful lieutenants.

I taught at the Military Academy and the Air Force Academy for years. I know how those lieutenants are trained. When a class ended, an officer would stand up, come to attention, and signal by saying, 'The class is about to end, sir.' It is a matter of absolute discipline.

At the graduation ceremony, the lieutenants were divided into two. Those who drew swords or took the oath, and those who did not. This is a very wrong thing. In the events involving Talat Aydemir, they also saw themselves as 'Mustafa Kemal's soldiers.' I am not saying this because I am comparing them to those. However, it happened that they were purged, and the Turkish Armed Forces lost its most valuable officers.

This is clear indiscipline; I do not look at what anyone says, I look at state order. If something is to be done at a ceremony, it should be done collectively. I am not saying this in terms of a reaction."