Once, the chief of general staff had posed before the journalists with a Light Anti-tank Weapon (LAW). It was never a good picture. The head of the armed forces should not make such public appearances in a contemporary democratic country. Those who provide professional services to the General Staff should know that. In another press conference, the generals were ranked behind Başbuğ in a weird setting. Such a setting would be meaningful if Başbuğ had turned toward any of them and said the question at hand would better be answered by a particular general. But the commanders had to wait for about two hours without moving. This was not a good picture for democracy. Indeed, much justifiable criticism was then voiced, saying he was holding the press conference on his own.
Also, he had called a document undersigned by a colonel a piece of paper -- even though the judicial process was under way -- and he had rushed to proclaim that the ammunition the police had found buried underground did not “belong to us.” All of these were statements made in a hurried manner. Indeed, the original of that “piece of paper” was later discovered and the Forensic Medicine Institute showed that the signature really belonged to the colonel. Moreover, the official reports showed that the buried ammunition belonged to the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). All of these were examples of mistakes in communication and they, too, damaged Başbuğ’s image.
The press conference held last week in Trabzon was unfortunately full of mistakes in communication as well. For instance, the message was given aboard a warship which was given special emphasis. In democratic country, a chief of general staff does not send messages using heavy weapons or warships. Even if they do, they are not addressed to the general public in the country. Başbuğ was speaking in a manner to teach lessons to academics, politicians and journalists and doing this aboard a warship built with the taxes collected from citizens. Moreover, he was not saying anything new. And he not only refrained from answering questions, he also pretended that he would not hold weekly meetings with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Moreover, his remarks about Trabzon contained associations that would lead to further discussions. Of course, Trabzon is a wonderful city and the people of Trabzon deserve all sorts of appreciation. But when you place special emphasis on “nationalism,” then this is inevitably construed to refer to some ultranationalist people in Trabzon and their crimes, which also saddened Trabzon -- the bombing of McDonalds, the murder of Father Santoro, the assassination of Hrant Dink, and so on. And this is a communication disaster. Furthermore, the love the people of Trabzon have for the army -- which he said in a you’ll-see-soon manner -- raises doubts about an artificial setup. Moreover, popular support is a political expectation, and the head of our army is not a political figure who should feel the need to prove the existence of that support as witnessed by the media.
Never mind... Mine is a sincere and heart-felt caution: The communication affairs of the chief of general staff are not being properly conducted. Grave errors are being made. As far as I understand, they either do not obtain professional support or they are given bad consultation. Heads of this institution are transient, but the important thing is to prevent the institutions from suffering from damage to their image. Unfortunately, these communication errors are weakening the image of our most precious institution. Communication is a serious matter.
