'Commander-in-Chief, your soldiers are sleeping in the park; do you have nothing to say?'

They only want the following:

- To benefit from military guesthouses and other TSK social facilities, as well as OYAK assistance, just like officer and non-commissioned officer veterans…

- Not to be forced to come to Ankara just to replace their expired prosthetics…

- To be able to receive high-quality eye, foot, and arm prosthetics…

- To be able to receive treatment abroad…

- To have the opportunity for rank advancement on par with their peers…

Who are we talking about?

Approximately 5 thousand families of fallen enlisted soldiers and enlisted veterans.

That is why they have been sleeping in Ankara's Güvenpark for exactly 35 days, trying to make their voices heard by the government and Parliament.

The Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Family and Social Services, and the TBMM National Defense Commission had been working for exactly 3 years to improve the personal rights of all families of the fallen and veterans.

However, the law—which all officials, including Erdoğan, admitted was insufficient and promised would continue to be worked on—was hastily approved in Parliament exactly one week ago today.

Even though the families of fallen enlisted soldiers and enlisted veterans cried out, “Our concern is not money,” they were only granted a salary increase of 8-12 thousand liras.

Although both TBMM National Defense Commission Chairman Hulusi Akar and AKP Deputy Chairman Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya stated that there was “no causal link” between this law and the PKK law, and that the rights of our martyrs' relatives and veterans would “never be a subject of bargaining in any political process,” it was noted that the law was passed one day before the PKK law.

“How Many of Us Need to Die?”

We discussed all of this with Erdem Çerçioğlu, the Platform Spokesperson for the Families of Fallen Enlisted Soldiers and Enlisted Veterans, as the protest in Güvenpark reached its 35th day.

Summarizing the past 34 days by saying, “Our mothers have wept,” Çerçioğlu emphasized that he was deeply affected by a veteran who lost his sight saying that he has not seen the face of his 2.5-year-old child, and furthermore, that he can no longer even remember his own face.

Çerçioğlu explained what angered him the most during this process as follows:

“The obstruction of the march we wanted to hold to Parliament to leave our prosthetics behind both saddened and angered our nation. A police commissioner said, ‘They are making us get cursed at because of your protest.’ That is exactly what saddened and angered me the most.”

While noting that representatives of all political parties except the government and its partners have visited them and that public support is steadily increasing, Çerçioğlu stated the following:

“For years, they did not treat us like human beings. They didn't care about our law; when we protested here because the PKK law was going to be passed, they gave us a tiny taste of honey. For years they said, ‘Martyrs do not die, the homeland is indivisible,’ they lied. Let them come and see whether mothers are weeping or not. We are currently being punished for having served in the Turkish Armed Forces. Hulusi Akar is displaying a hostile attitude. I don't know the reason, I would like him to explain it. If the authorities are afraid that we will react, we promise, we will not show any reaction. Who has come as a representative of this law that we have been rude to? Even a bear does not suffocate its young in its den.”

Emphasizing that the claim that all associations and foundations for the fallen and veterans support the law is not true, Çerçioğlu continued:

“There was not a single person in the TBMM National Defense Commission who had experienced this hardship. But they determined our future. Then they got into their Mercedes and left. If there is even a shred of conscience in that commission, I am a scoundrel. At the very least, I did not think they would be so heartless as to make us a laughingstock to terrorists and make us sleep on the streets for 1 month. How many of us will have to die for this law to be corrected? There is no such disgrace anywhere else in the world. If we are the country that gives the most rights to the families of the fallen and veterans in the world, what are we doing here? Thank God we became veterans. If we had fallen as martyrs, they would have disgraced our families. I would say, ‘May they get what they deserve from their own children’; but since cursing does not suit me, as both a veteran and a citizen, excluding some, I wish that the salaries they receive turn into poison.”

The Visitor After the PKK Law

Upon our question, Çerçioğlu stated that after the PKK law was passed, only New Party Artvin Deputy Uğur Bayraktutan came to Güvenpark and said that he had voted “No” to the law, and he explained the following regarding this law:

“They were not ashamed while the law concerning us was being discussed; they had Pervin Buldan preside over the Parliament. I do not think that those who voted for the framework law are on the side of the martyrs and veterans. Now, how will they go to the Black Sea and Central Anatolia and explain this? Even God does not forgive the violation of human rights, who are you to forgive the PKK members? If this law is so good, why did they get immunity for themselves? From now on, how will they go to a martyr's funeral without shame?”

When reminded that everyone says, “With the opening process, martyr funerals are no longer coming,” following these words, Çerçioğlu replied, “Is there a guarantee?”

Finally, Çerçioğlu addressed Erdoğan as follows:

“Commander-in-Chief, your soldiers are sleeping in the park. Do you have nothing to say?”

Müyesser YILDIZ

August 16, 2026