Prosecutor who defended lieutenants saying 'We are Atatürk's soldiers' suspended: 'An operation by sects and cults'
Antalya Public Prosecutor Mehmet Çağlayan had expressed his support for the lieutenants, who are facing potential dismissal from the army for saying 'We are Mustafa Kemal's soldiers' during the oath taken at the end of the military academy graduation ceremony, through a social media post. Shortly after this post, Çağlayan was suspended.
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While there are calls for the dismissal of the lieutenants from the army following their 'sword oath,' statements attempting to frame the issue under the heading of 'disciplinary misconduct' continue to draw backlash.
While many segments of society have expressed their opinions that the lieutenants are being targeted for dismissal because they said 'We are Atatürk's soldiers,' those who have issued statements in support of the lieutenants are also being punished.
Most recently, Antalya Public Prosecutor Mehmet Çağlayan had supported the lieutenants with a post on his social media account. Çağlayan had used the following expressions on his account:
"All soldiers are Atatürk's soldiers. Our lieutenants who shouted this at the oath ceremony have neither acted against the law nor committed any disciplinary misconduct. It is impossible to accept even a warning penalty. The board members who are being pressured to impose a penalty should share this and resign."
Arguing that the lieutenants could not be penalized for their actions, Çağlayan made another post shortly after and used the following expressions:
"Our Kemalist lieutenants, who have no disciplinary misconduct, are being punished and even attempted to be dismissed through an operation by sects, cults, and those who are trying to erase Atatürk. With this investigation, the level of hostility toward Atatürk and the secular Republic is being increased by another notch.
The lieutenants must be protected, and reactions must be shown against the pressures aimed at punishing them."
Immediately following these remarks filled with reaction, Antalya Public Prosecutor Mehmet Çağlayan was sent from Antalya to Fethiye, a lower-ranking region, by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) on November 19, despite his seniority.
Not content with this penalty, Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç proposed an investigation into Çağlayan two days later in his capacity as the President of the HSK. On the same day, Tunç gave his approval in his capacity as the President of the HSK. In the preliminary report prepared by the inspectors, it was argued that Çağlayan engaged in behavior unbecoming of the Public Prosecution profession with the posts he made.
The prosecutor who stood up for the lieutenants has been suspended, and the option of dismissing Mehmet Çağlayan from his profession is also on the table...