The Taraf daily claimed that an explosion in which four soldiers were killed was not an accident but “punishment” in which Pvt. İbrahim Öztürk of Mersin was forced to hold a hand grenade with the pin pulled out because he had dozed off while on duty.While the soldiers' families, devastated for a second time upon hearing the allegations, and the public have been expecting an explanation from military officials, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ refused to make a statement and lashed out at reporters who asked him about the incident on Friday. Since this tragic death of four soldiers is not the only misdeed of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) -- it was recently made public that mines which killed six soldiers in the Çukurca district of Hakkari on May 27 belonged to the TSK rather than the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -- the TSK is still at the center of harsh criticism for its wrongdoings, with analysts saying that it is because the Turkish military has escapted criticism so far that the situation has come to this alarming point.
Yıldırım Türker from the Radikal daily draws attention to the fact that military officials still refrain from making a statement on these incidents and accuse the Taraf daily of spreading lies. “Yet, the TSK continuously tells the public and the families [of fallen soldiers] lies. It announced that the hand grenade case was an accident; it says the [Çukurca] mines were planted by PKK terrorists -- and all this while glossing over the existence of [the clandestine and illegitimate gendarmerie intelligence unit known as] JİTEM. For years it laid the blame of [the military's] wrongdoings on the enemy [PKK].” Türker complains that no one, including politicians, has demanded an accounting from the military for its mistakes and questions whether all those soldiers who were killed in the Southeast had become martyrs or victims of negligence and recklessness of military officials. He says the military is responsible for protecting the lives of soldiers whose lives were entrusted to it, not for meddling in politics. “Why can no one hold the military responsible?” asks Türker.
Yeni Şafak's Yasin Aktay talks about a problematic perception in Turkey about the position of the military, which sees it as the eyes of the nation. Aktay finds this analogy problematic because the eyes do not protect the other organs of the body. Instead, the eyes need to be protected themselves. “The public perception of the military is turning from oddness into a defect -- one that has penetrated the genes of the entire society,” he says. Aktay believes Turkey needs a really strong military but one that does not need to be protected itself. He adds that having such a military requires it being open to criticism and public oversight. “Even if the society sees the military as the eyes of the nation, the best thing it can do for the military is to not remain silent in the face of its mistakes but to try to correct it because the military belongs to the nation, and not vice versa. If the society gets stronger, it oversees its military in a better way and this paves the way before a stronger military,” suggests Aktay.
According to Zaman's Ahmet Turan Alkan, a lack of criticism has weakened the Turkish military and, due to some circles having turned a blind eye to the military's mistakes and always lauding it, the military has begun to fail to act as the “backbone” of the state. “The military is not aware of its mistakes because it is unable to see them,” says Alkan, noting that when anyone directly criticizes the military, it always accuses them of being ill intentioned.
