Dead soldiers’ families outraged by air forces scandal

Bugün's report was based on a phone conversation between two air forces pilots, Sr. Lt. Fırat Ç. and Lt. Col. Selçuk Ç., intercepted by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). In the phone conversation, the lieutenant colonel asked the major to change the course of Heron unmanned aircraft or crash these aircraft because they were causing too many losses to PKK militants in the area, whom he referred to in the conversation as “our men.”

The major responded, promising that he would “take care of it.” In the ensuing investigation after MİT exposed the content of the conversation, military judge Col. Zeki Üçok, who is currently jailed over his role in a crime gang, covered up the case. He heard one of the pilots as a “witness” and released the other one after a brief interrogation. No legal action has since been taken. The conversation took place in 2007. Bugün reported that the senior liutenant had also spoken to a senior admiral in a similar manner, but this admiral’s role and level of involvement in the scandal was not clear.

The General Staff, MİT and the prime minister, which apparently had been aware of the conversation, have so far been silent on the news story. However, associations representing families of soldiers killed by the PKK have not been hesitant to express their outrage. Families of Martyrs Association head Mehmet Güner said he was shocked by the “treason of officers who eat the bread of this country. These people are enemies of the motherland. This means that our people died for nothing. They should leave this country, live in another country.”

Şencan Bayramoğlu, head of the İstanbul Martyr Families Solidarity Association, said: “When there is degeneration in society, it is reflected everywhere. There are people that can be bought in every institution. In some communities, there are more of them, while there are fewer in others. This shows that they have even infiltrated the military. This is very painful for the Turkish nation. But the indecency of two people cannot smear an entire institution. The military will purge itself of them in a short time.” Tamer Uran, head of the Turkey Veterans, Martyrs and Widows’ Association, demanded that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) act immediately and do what is necessary about this instance of treason. “This is a blow to the struggle that has been going on. This is open betrayal.”

Şükrü Tandoğan, head of the Turkey Combatant Veterans’ Association, also stated that he expected the military not to tolerate this. “If a person has not obeyed the rules and has betrayed the country, then what should be done should be done.”

The General Staff has been silent in the face of the treason scandal. The story has shocked the entire country, but the top army brass has remained silent. The Bugün newspaper said yesterday it had petitioned the General Staff to look into the matter.

Gürcan Onat, a retired major, said this type of involvement by a Turkish officer was nothing short of treason and stated that the officers involved should be expelled from the military at once if the allegations are true. He mentioned that many officers had been discharged for being religious but that this type of individual continued to remain in uniform, saying this was something the nation is now increasingly questioning.

Dağlıca in 11 days

Meanwhile, observers note that a brutal attack on a military outpost in Hakkari’s Dağlıca district took place only 11 days after the scandalous conversation. In fact, it does not come as a big surprise as there was evidence suggesting that the military command had intelligence about the plans of terrorists prior to the raid in Dağlıca on Oct. 17 2007, which claimed 16 lives. Eight others were captured by the PKK but later released. They were charged with disobeying orders; one was also charged with aiding and abetting the PKK. However, they were all later acquitted. The investigation into the Dağlıca attack revealed that the General Staff had been tipped off about the plan nine days ahead of the assault. The investigation found that the terrorists had taken an entire week to enter Turkish territory in small groups on mules, confirmed by records of wireless communications between officers and privates as well as their testimony after the attack.

Dağlıca Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Onur Dirik had left his battalion at the time of the attack to attend a wedding. His pictures, dancing at the wedding at the time of the attack, were published in national newspapers. According to evidence that surfaced in August 2008, Dirik had e-mailed photos and detailed information about the security of the region to a suspect in the trial of the coup-plotting clandestine organization Ergenekon. These pictures are now included in the 354th folder of evidence backing a 2,455-page indictment on Ergenekon. In both attacks, the General Staff confirmed that they had prior intelligence about terrorist activity in the region. No concrete outcome has come out of either investigation, and the controversy was covered up.

Meanwhile, the Samanyolu news site yesterday reported that one Heron had crashed in the southeastern province of Batman and that two other unmanned aerial vehicles had crashed in Diyarbakır in the past. It was not clear when the craft had crashed, but the website commented that the recently leaked phone conversation might be behind the crashes of these aircraft, which are very effective in gathering intelligence on terrorist locations.