However, his explanations spur more questions and doubts than answer those already circulating. Başbuğ’s statement, like the brief statement issued last week by the General Staff, was seen as being far from convincing by the general public, which has for several days been reading in horror plots subversive generals had prepared with complete madness and aberration.The reason for this is simple and understandable: Başbuğ’s statement is flawed with inconsistencies. Every statement that directly and categorically labels anyone who publishes information or documents about coup attempts and who comments on these outdated, immoral and unconscionable plots as the enemy of the army will arrive at nothing but inconsistency. If you constantly afford protection to every illegal network within the army and if you continue to regard members of the army as immune from the rule of law, and if you fail to expose junta networks within the army, and instead try to cover up already disclosed ones, and if you attempt to scorn weapons and ammunition seized as empty “pipes” and the heinous plots that target the government and civil society as mere “pieces of paper,” then you will necessarily have the illusion that the criticism being voice is targeting the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) collectively. And every word you utter based on this misguided assumption will be flawed by inconsistencies.
Mr. Başbuğ, first put this into your head: No nation can or will be hostile to its own army, which is made up of its own children. But, this does not mean that an army’s management that constantly bickers with its own nation or scorns its values or refrains from accepting its democratically embodied will because of a wrong education, a wrong indoctrination or ideological deviation, a wrong management or for whatever reason, or a handful of lawless unconscionable despicable people nested within the army will be immune to criticisms, the rule of law and audits.
Be fair and tell us if the primitive mentality that seems to dominate the Turkish army today -- holding the collective personality of the TSK in high regard -- is really in harmony with the contemporary conception of democracy and the rule of law. If the illegal activities made, plots devised, offenses committed and attempts to avert judicial processes made by certain units or members of the armed forces that you preside help to portray the TSK collectively as the “focus of organized crime,” then, your responsibility -- please do not take offense -- is not to accuse or threaten journalists or the people who question these abnormalities. As a public official, your primary duty is to teach many TSK commanders and members who are head over heels in crime and illegality how to show true respect to democracy and the rule of law -- “without paying lip service,” as you frequently put it. Then, refrain from using extremely threatening and shameful styles, like saying that “the TSK’s patience has limits,” while pretending to be respectful of democracy. You will otherwise not be able to recover from inconsistencies.
If you really hold the rule of law in high esteem, then acting on your initiative, take the lead for allowing members of the army to be tried at civilian courts for offenses related to the civilian sphere instead of exerting all sorts of pressure on lawmakers or devising and implementing a number of plots to stifle the bill making this possible. Also, beware of those who voice criticism about the army’s current state and its lust to shape society and meddle with politics. Beware also of the military tutelage and do not offer the Iranian or Saudi army as a model. If you are a true democrat or claim to be respectful of the rule of law or describe yourself as modern, then stop dragging your feet in implementing EU standards regarding civilian-military relations and be helpful in performing whatever is needed for the full adoption of these standards, as noted in the EU’s 2009 progress report. This will finally allow us to consider your words as consistent with your actions, which are at the heart of suspicion. If you really regard the rule of law and democracy in high esteem, as you advertise, then issue an order for the removal of the anti-democratic e-memorandum of April 27, 2007 -- which intervened in politics ahead of the presidential election -- from the TSK’s Web site and openly apologize for that great impudence against the nation’s will on behalf of your predecessor.
Also, believe us that we really want more strongly than you to believe that an army which had overthrown many governments in the past would not do so again in the hands of the junta. However, neither your discourse and style nor the recently disclosed abortive Ayışığı (Moonlight), Yakamoz (Sea Sparkle), Eldiven (Glove) and Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coups as well as the heinous plots devised within the army with the intention of creating chaos and conflict, such as the “plan to finish off the AK Party [Justice and Development Party] and [Fethullah] Gülen” and the “action plan to fight reactionaryism,” give us assurance in this respect.
Let us forget about these and concentrate on this: You said: “We order our soldiers to attack [enemies], exclaiming ‘Allah, Allah!’ How on earth would the TSK bomb mosques? This is unjust. I denounce these claims. How can one be so unfair?” Your words are not fully understood, but you apparently depart from the assumption that such heinous plots cannot exist within the army and accuse those who expose those attacks, the bombing of mosques and similar acts planned by some generals of being “unfair.” Given your statement that an army that orders its soldiers to attack exclaiming “Allah Allah” would not do so, then you should be able to explain, for the sake of consistency, why the same army has discharged so many officers who performed prayers prescribed by God. If you bother, please explain to us consistently how an army that orders its soldiers to attack exclaiming “Allah Allah” can regard the Muslim identity as a primary threat or label devout people as internal enemies or ideologically profile people who perform their religious duties. Also if you tell us why the commanding management of an army that orders its soldiers to attack exclaiming “Allah Allah” are waging a total war against the headscarf, the wearing of which is enjoined by God for Muslim women, and work overtime to banish women wearing headscarves from university education and social life, we might be able to comprehend and acknowledge that you are right.
Please note that all statements based on lies, efforts to cover up the truth and inconsistencies will always fail to be persuasive.
In the meantime, I would like to stress once again that while I make references to the “army” throughout this article, I consider the collective personality of our glorious army and its honorable members who perform their duties properly as free from and immune to such references.
