The silence on the military front can be understood to a certain extent. In fact the military's silence may be seen as tacit approval. Our military has not yet reached the level of maturity where it can apologize for a mistake. I don't expect them to come out and say "it was a mistake." Any statement they make from now on will only be an excuse for what happened. My dear friend Cihan Director General Abdülhamit Bilici, who continues to write about the issue because no one has spoken out, is waiting for nothing. I prefer to hear the silence caused by embarrassment rather than unconvincing excuses. The military could issue an apology that may cause even more damage than the original misdeed, like when former President Süleyman Demiral commented on what is known as the Primary School Teachers Health and Social Assistance Fund (İLKSAN) scandal in which the owner of then-daily Tercüman, Kemal Ilıcak, was accused of working as an arbitrator in the sale of a lot of land to İLKSAN. Ilıcak was held responsible for buying the land for TL 120 billion from AY-BA Construction and selling it to İLKSAN for TL 346 billion. Demirel, commenting on the scandal, had said, "If I did give [an order for this to take place], I did, so what." What we should be concerned about is the silence of media organizations. While this silence is frightening, it is surprising that the military isn't taking advantage of the media's silence to justify the actions of the relevant military personnel. While the public may not have accepted their excuse, there is certainly a group of journalists who would have jumped on the military's announcement. We have a Press Council that roars when the slightest harm is inflicted on their media groups, but does not utter a single word -- not even on the possibility that a reporter was ditched by the military -- when it comes to the "other" media group. We also have a journalists' association that decides on the issues it will defend according to regressive criteria, although it calls itself a "progressive" association. We have newspapers and television staions that have overlooked the issue because they think its not "news material" and writers, with the exception of a few, who haven't written a single word on it.
In this overwhelming silence, the statement by the Turkish Journalists Association's (TGC) Orhan Erinç could win him a medal of honor.
It is important that we applaud the Anatolian media for teaching the İstanbul dukedom a lesson of solidarity -- treat fair and fair alike.
That brings to mind that the Cihan reporter and the late Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu aren't that different. In fact, Yazıcıoğlu could have posed a greater threat because he's more accustomed to living under harsh conditions while Aykurt is still very young. If suspicion emerges that the type of mentality responsible for leaving a reporter on top of the mountain didn't truly carry out search and rescue efforts, then that's when all hell will break loose. I am being a little satirical, but certainly this is a topic that must be taken seriously. The chief of general staff is obliged to investigate the near-death accreditation incident and provide a convincing explanation to the public. The chief of general staff must investigate the issue taking into consideration the human aspect of it. There is no public relations rhetoric or gimmick that can be pulled off to compensate for what happened.
The only way out is to conduct a sincere self-assessment and take the necessary measures. Only this will justify the current silence and provide an opportunity for the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), which has become distanced from the public because of bad and predominantly personal choices. It will also prevent personal choices from being associated with the entire armed forces in the future.
Naturally though, people are not only concerned with speeches but also actions.
