Interesting detail in the lieutenants' report: No mention of them saying 'We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal'!..

Following the graduation ceremony on August 30, the process has begun to dismiss from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) the lieutenants who gathered among themselves, recited the Officer's Oath—which was removed from the regulations last year—crossed their swords, and said “We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal,” on the grounds of the disciplinary offense of “engaging in behavior that hinders service.”

According to allegations, the dismissal of 27 lieutenants is on the agenda in the first stage, primarily including the class valedictorian, Artillery Lieutenant Ebru Eroğlu, and the regiment senior, Air Defense Lieutenant T.İ.A.

In the notifications sent to the targeted lieutenants to submit their defenses, it was explained in detail how the lieutenants committed this “crime” as a result of the investigation launched on September 19 by the order of the Land Forces Command.

THEY WANTED TO COMMEMORATE THE CADET WHO PASSED AWAY BY RECITING THE OATH

According to the investigation report, the following occurred during the process:

Starting from August 13, when the ceremony rehearsals began, the graduating lieutenants applied to the Military Academy Student Regiment Command and the Dean's Office at various times, requesting to recite the oath—which was not in the program and had been removed from the regulations—during the ceremony, and to change the speech to be made by the class valedictorian to commemorate their late classmate, Cadet İsmail Karaağaç.

Lieutenant Ebru Eroğlu also made three applications with the same request, first to the Company Command on August 19, and then to different authorities at various times.

Meanwhile, the regiment senior, referred to as the “Acting Cadet Regiment Commander,” also applied to his immediate superiors.

The Battalion Commander informed the applying lieutenants that reciting the oath in question was not appropriate because it had been removed from the regulations. Furthermore, during the ceremony rehearsals on August 20, he warned via the public address system that all personnel must comply with the directive, stating that “it is not possible to go beyond the text specified in the directive, and a different oath text cannot be recited.”

One day before the graduation ceremony, on the evening of August 29, the lieutenants held their traditional battalion celebration, which they stated “is held every year.” During this celebration, after singing marches and folk songs together, they gathered randomly in front of the Atatürk bust in the Colonel Celal Dora Square. Here, while the class runner-up was reciting the oath removed from the regulations upon the insistence of his friends, Lieutenant Ebru Eroğlu, who contacted the regiment senior, stated that as the class valedictorian, she should be the one to recite the oath and asked for help to recite the oath, which was not in the program, during the “traditional sword-crossing activity” of the lieutenants planned to be performed on August 30.

Upon this request from Eroğlu, the regiment senior sent a message to the battalion's WhatsApp announcement group to have the entire class gather on the field for the purpose of “performing the sword-crossing activity after the official part of the ceremony and reciting the oath removed from the regulations.”

Thus, it was understood that the lieutenants had made this plan a day in advance!..

THE MEANING OF THAT DETAIL

The report described what happened on August 30 as follows:

“Following the completion of the Diploma and Flag Handover ceremony held at the MSÜ Military Academy Command on August 30, 2024, at 18:30, the graduating lieutenants were kept behind a screen opposite the honorary tribune. After a while, some lieutenants who emerged from behind the screen entered the field and began to gather in a crescent-shaped formation. The gathered group was directed by the lieutenant who was the ‘Acting Cadet Regiment Commander.’ Meanwhile, Artillery Lieutenant Ebru Eroğlu, who came running to the presentation podium, made an announcement over the open public address system for all her friends to gather on the field, saying, ‘175th class to the field, 175th class to the field, 175th class to the field, our dear officials, as the 175th term graduates, we want to recite the officer's oath for the last time. Please clear the field, please clear the field. Friends to the field. Malazgirt to the field.’ During this time, it was determined that the gathered group crossed their officer swords, and after collective recitations, Artillery Lieutenant Ebru Eroğlu ran into the middle of the group and had them recite the oath, which was removed from the regulations and not in the program, with her sword held high.”

While everything is explained one by one, isn't it interesting that there is no mention of them saying “We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal,” and the phrase “collective recitations” is used instead?

Thus, the lieutenants will supposedly be dismissed not because they said “We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal,” but for “seriously damaging military discipline and having negative effects on the TSK by planning to recite an oath removed from the regulations despite their immediate superiors not giving permission, and by carrying out an unauthorized activity outside the program in a military area”!..

In short; the Turkish Nation must stand by our lieutenants, who are being politically sacrificed and left alone by their commanders...