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Dağlıca investigation reveals many instances of negligence
Higher ranking officers made strategic mistakes prior to the deadly attack, witness testimony showed, suggesting that the eight soldiers might not be the only ones who should be standing trial.
One of the soldiers, Pvt. Ramazan Yüce, had previous links to the PKK, the investigation had revealed. In his testimony, the lieutenant colonel in charge of the battalion accused Yüce of "treason." However, Lt. Col. Onur Dirik, commander of the battalion that was attacked in Dağlıca, was at a "wedding" on the night of the PKK raid.
Recent documents from the investigation into how the Dağlıca attack occurred also reveal some grave mistakes. For example, the battalion stationed in Dağlıca reported three times that PKK members were in the region. The troops in the battalion requested that a helicopter be sent to their area, but the request was rejected. All three commanders of the battalion were "off" on the day of the raid.
Although Dirik testified that the eight soldiers did not fight as they should have and that is why the Dağlıca attack occurred, other testimonies in the case file showed that the presence of PKK members was known by the army about one-and-a-half months before the attack. The soldiers in the Dağlıca battalion were sent to keep watch for 10 days on mountaintops without any hand grenades, despite the army having intelligence on the fact that the PKK was in their region, reports said.
PKK activity was reported by a first lieutenant who also asked for a helicopter to be sent, but the battalion commander, Dirik, did not send a helicopter. No commanders were in charge of the battalion on the day of the attack, which Dirik stated in his testimony, because the commanders were "resting to prepare for another planned operation."
Meanwhile, reports from the region that witness testimonies from the privates included information that the battalion which normally had 100 troops had only 56 troops; something a mole might have communicated to the terrorist group. Since testimonies prove that there were reports about heavy terrorist traffic in the region, the fact that the battalion was not reinforced with more soldiers also remains as a main act of negligence.
Pvt. Ufuk Çelik in his testimony stated that on Oct. 19, exactly three days before the attack, he spotted through his binoculars four terrorists with nine loaded mules crossing through the region.
One of the eight freed soldiers, Yüce, is facing life in prison on charges of praising a crime and its perpetrator, disobeying orders, assisting in a crime against the state's integrity, escaping to a foreign country, involvement in the propaganda of a separatist terrorist organization and dissuading the public from performing military service. In his testimony to the prosecutor, Pvt. Yüce denied all accusations directed against him.
Privates İrfan Beyaz, Özhan Şabanoğlu, Fuat Başoda, İlhami Demir, Fatih Atakul and Mehmet Şenkul are facing trial for "disobeying" orders.
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