Investigation into veteran: He had opposed a visit by someone in a robe and turban at the officers' club

Tarkan Yılgün, who became a veteran while serving as a specialist sergeant in the Southeast, saw someone in a green robe enter the Lüleburgaz Officers' Club with his family.

Upon this, Yılgün spoke to the sentry at the officers' club and asked, “You don't let me in with my knee-length shorts. Why are you letting a young man in a robe and turban into the officers' club?”

The sentry replied, “The directive states that one cannot enter in slippers or shorts. It does not say one cannot enter in a robe. That is why I let him in.”

Yılgün later spoke with the duty non-commissioned officer. The NCO stated that the sentry had let the individual in without informing him.

An investigation was launched into Yılgün after he filed a complaint via email to the Land Forces Command regarding the incident he witnessed at the officers' club.

In his statement regarding the complaint filed by the Lüleburgaz 65th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Command, Yılgün said:

"I reported this incident to the Land Forces Command via email. I told the soldier who let the robed young man in, ‘You will be in trouble.’ My intention was to inform them that they would face an investigation. There was no situation involving threats or obstruction of duty. One day after this incident, I called Mahir Çoğu, the Lüleburgaz Branch President of the Turkish Retired Non-Commissioned Officers Association (TEMAD), on his mobile phone. He said he had intervened in the incident that occurred at the officers' club. In the photo that reached me, the young man in the robe and turban was sitting in the cafeteria."

Sözcü columnist Saygı Öztürk covered what happened to Specialist Sergeant Tarkan Yılgün in his column.

Öztürk shared the petition that Yılgün, who is under investigation, submitted to the Lüleburgaz Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

Yılgün's petition included the following statements:

“I gave my statement after being called by the Lüleburgaz Police Department within the scope of the Lüleburgaz Chief Public Prosecutor's Office investigation file 2024/4430. The Lüleburgaz 65th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Command has filed a complaint against the TEMAD President and me due to the statements I made to the newspaper. It is stated that articles 9-11 of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) Officers' Club Regulation, published in the Official Gazette on May 22, 2022, with number 31845, have been amended. It is stated that attire, clothing, order, and discipline will be managed according to the principles determined by the Ministry of National Defense. According to the relevant directive, it is a violation to allow a person in a green robe, turban, and slippers into the Lüleburgaz Officers' Club in terms of dress code. I am filing a criminal complaint against those who allowed this. I request that the necessary action be taken.”

Öztürk concluded his article as follows:

IS ENTRY IN A ROBE PERMITTED?

Look at this situation; now one can enter officers' clubs and military facilities in a green robe and turban, and a veteran of the Southeast and the head of the retired non-commissioned officers' association are being reported to the Public Prosecutor's Office by the military unit command for opposing their entry in this attire.

Apparently, it doesn't say “You cannot enter with a turban or robe” in the directive, so they were let in!

A commander who wore a robe over his military uniform and wore a turban had also been seen. That commander was not touched. Seeing these things, it turns out that entry into the officers' club in a turban and robe is also free. Since a criminal complaint is being filed not against those who entered, but against those who reacted to their entry, let us conclude by saying, “Look at where we have come from.”

News Source: 12punto