They were dismissed from the TSK! The defense of the pro-Atatürk lieutenants has emerged: 'Those who damage the reputation of the TSK...'

The crisis at the Istanbul Tuzla Infantry School, which began with lieutenants who did not wear Atatürk photographs on November 10th, ended with the dismissal of the pro-Atatürk lieutenants.

Sözcü columnist Aytunç Erkin included the defense statements of the pro-Atatürk lieutenants in his column today.

The pro-Atatürk lieutenants stated the following in their defense:

“...There is no doubt that the client acted under severe provocation resulting from actions and statements openly displayed against Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the common value of the Turkish nation and the eternal commander-in-chief of the Turkish Armed Forces, and the values of the Republic he founded; even if it were assumed for a moment that the actions and statements attributed to them were true, it is evaluated that the ‘Obstruction of Service’ situations that would require their dismissal from the TSK must also be clearly demonstrated.”

"IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR DISCIPLINARY SUPERIORS TO MAKE A DECISION BY CONDUCTING AN INDEPENDENT EVALUATION"

In the section of the defense titled “There is a violation of the principle of impartiality and independence of the investigation,” the lawyers noted the following:

“After the disciplinary investigation board proposed in the ‘Evaluations and Opinions regarding the Incident’ section at the end of the report that the client be punished with a ‘Separation from the Armed Forces Penalty,’ the Land Forces Commander wrote an opinion stating that he agreed with the proposal of the investigation board. After the Land Forces Commander (KKK) personally initiated the disciplinary investigation and approved the proposals for punishment in the final disciplinary investigation report, the clients were asked for their written defenses by their initial disciplinary superiors after December 15, 2023. After the Land Forces Commander agreed with the proposal to punish the clients, it is not possible in the military hierarchy for the initial disciplinary superiors, who requested the clients to submit their defenses, to make a decision by conducting an independent, impartial, and objective evaluation of the written defenses provided by the clients.”

“THEIR RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL WAS VIOLATED”

The lawyers criticized the Land Forces Command as follows:

“According to the relevant article, the commander who appoints an investigator to research indiscipline expressing a positive or negative opinion regarding the investigation may cause damage to the principle of impartiality with respect to the superior/board authorized to impose disciplinary penalties. In fact, in cases where the superior who will impose the relevant penalty is the person themselves, the opinion they express will mean declaring their thoughts in advance. In such cases, the possibility will arise for the disciplinary penalty imposed on the personnel to be canceled by administrative courts. In summary, with the opinion written by the Land Forces Commander, the clients’ ‘right to a fair trial,’ specifically regarding the ‘presumption of innocence,’ has been violated.”

CRITICISM OF DISCIPLINARY OFFENSE

Furthermore, in the defense, the lawyers stated that “in the request for defense dated December 15, 2023, where the written defense was requested by the client’s company commander, the actions of the clients were defined in general terms, but it was not explained when the actions took place, what they consisted of, and the boundaries of the action evaluated as contrary to discipline were not drawn,” and said the following:

“For this reason, it could not be understood by us which actions of the clients constituted a disciplinary offense and for what reason, and our right to defense was prevented from being used in a way that would include this action.”

HARSH REACTION TO 'JUNTA' NEWS

Additionally, the defense stated, “If it is claimed that the reputation of the TSK has been damaged, those responsible for this are the lieutenants who did not pin the Atatürk picture to their lapels, who crumpled the Atatürk picture, who attacked the values of the Republic and the principle of secularism, and those who distort these facts and report on the lieutenants who reacted to those insulting Atatürk as if they were members of a junta.”

News Source: 12punto