Esprit de corps of majority of military ignored amidst political polemics

    In July 2009, Turkish media reported that a teenager who was not allowed into a military beach facility because his father was not a commissioned officer died tragically of electrocution when he tried to climb an electricity pole to jump over a wire fence.

    The reports said that Emrah Uçar, the son of a master sergeant, along with three other friends who were the sons of three noncommissioned officers, went to a military beach and summer facility in Tekirdağ. The guards at the gate reportedly did not let Uçar in due to a rule that allows only family members of commissioned officers inside.

    “Having failed the ID check, Uçar, 16, decided to follow his friends’ advice to climb up a nearby electric pole off of which he could jump over to the other side of the wire fence, where he would meet his three friends. As he climbed, however, the teenager was electrocuted when he touched the electrified pole.

Uçar fell off the pole; his friends, waiting on the other side, alerted military personnel and asked for help. Following the administration of first aid by paramedics at the camp, Uçar was rushed to the Çorlu Military Hospital, where he died,” said articles at the time.

A day after those reports were published, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) released a written statement in which it made clear that Uçar was not let in the facility since “he didn’t comply with rules concerning entry.” The statement, however, failed to elaborate on those rules and whether they were related to their not being sons of commissioned officers. It did note that the 5th Army Corps had started an investigation into the case.

The statement failed to remove questions raised by reports indicating the existence of a “caste system” within the TSK, which considers itself the guardian of the Turkish Republic, established with the ideal of creating a classless, homogeneous and amalgamated nation, deprived of all ethnic, cultural and social differences.

Amalgamated nation, amalgamated army

The existence of a TSK caste system is a perception that would probably be firmly ruled out by the TSK’s top commanders, but, still, that perception stands firm, supported by hard facts.

There is a reason to recall Emrah and his father Ali Uçar’s tragedy:

Earlier this month, while expressing strong disbelief over an apparent plot to assassinate two admirals at the Naval Forces Command and calling news reports on the plot a “smear campaign” against the TSK, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ referenced the esprit de corps of the TSK.

“What did they [newspapers] write for several months? They wrote that naval forces commanders would be assassinated. What was their intention? They implied that naval officers are devising plots against their own commanders. They wanted the public to believe these claims, didn’t they? And what happened? Five indictments have been prepared thus far. Do any of them mention the assassination plot? Who will be called to account for this? This is a shame. Enough is enough. They are pushing the limits of our patience,” he said in an interview with the Habertürk daily.

In July seven naval lieutenants were arrested on charges of plotting to assassinate two admirals, Metin Ataç and Eşref Uğur Yiğit. There were claims that the lieutenants were in close contact with Maj. Levent Bektaş, who was arrested in April for suspected links to a large cache of weapons unearthed during excavations on land owned by the İstek Foundation in İstanbul’s Poyrazköy district. That discovery came as part of the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine organization whose suspected members are currently standing trial on charges of having plotted to overthrow the government.

Ten naval officers have been arrested so far as part of the assassination plot.

“We are examining all the files. We may file some lawsuits. We may launch some probes. We are doing what we should. But all that has occurred thus far demoralizes my soldiers. I will fight anyone who demoralizes my soldiers. A demoralized army is a country’s problem,” Başbuğ remarked.

It was Habertürk daily columnist Umur Talu, who has been closely following the issue for the last few years, who pointed out that Başbuğ has ignored the esprit de corps of tens of thousands of people -- noncommissioned officers, master sergeants, master gendarmes, civilian officers and thousands of those retired from the TSK -- and this number doesn’t even include conscripts. Talu then listed some of the countless suicides among these people, mostly due to suffering exclusion in the military or financial problems. Not being able to enter to military clubs (called Ordu Evi, or Army House) is one such form of the exclusion of low-ranking soldiers.

Statistics and human lives

There are around 150,000 retired noncommissioned officers and 95,000 noncommissioned officers who are still serving in the army, while there are more than 60,000 master sergeants who are still serving in the army and more than 2,000 retired master sergeants who are “disabled pensioners,” deprived of their work-related rights.

Noncommissioned officers, who regularly pay monthly fees to the Turkish Armed Forces Assistance Center (OYAK), are not given access either to OYAK administrative and auditing boards or to its general assembly meetings. Noncommissioned officers who have been expelled from the army are not granted their due rights.

Membership fees are taken from commissioned officers, noncommissioned officers, civilian officers and master sergeants, according to Article 16 of the OYAK Law, while Article 17 of the same law says that commissioned officers and talented civilian officers are to be assigned to administrative and auditing boards.

Precedence by length of service is not reflected in the salaries of master sergeants, who are discharged from the military at age 45 due to an age limit. Yet they are not able to work at another public institution after this age. Even if they have fulfilled their premium days according to pension fund law in order to be able to retire, they have to wait until they are 65 years old for their pensions, without salary or social insurance.

Esef Merdoğlu of the Retired Masters Association (EMUZDER), a friend of Ali Uçar, warns that if these problems are not addressed, they will grow like an avalanche and lead to deep societal problems.

“Around a year ago, Mr. Başbuğ said something like ‘A soldier is not a robot. We are human beings, too.’ Law 3269 concerning master sergeants doesn’t provide a humane life. You have to listen to us: We are not robots, we are human beings too,” Merdoğlu told Sunday’s Zaman, highlighting that each authority, whether the General Staff or Parliament, has been throwing the ball into the other’s court when the time comes to address the issue.

Mehmet Erol, the secretary-general of the Turkish Retired Noncommissioned Officers Association (TEMAD), emphasizes similar points: “Lots of studies on improving the situation of lower-ranked soldiers are being kept on the shelf. There has been no improvement, at least since the last decade. Some outdated regulations are being polished and introduced to the public through the media as if they were new regulations.”

While expressing a firm determination to continue their struggle for their rights, Erol also noted that they were expecting the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to deliver a ruling within one-and-a-half years on their complaint, filed in September 2007. After exhausting domestic options, TEMAD filed a complaint with the ECtHR concerning the violation of rights of equality and fairness of its members in the military.

Returning to 16-year-old swimming fan Emrah’s story, the TSK Communication Office didn’t return Sunday’s Zaman’s call to answer its question concerning the status of the investigation carried out by the 5th Army Corps.