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The General Staff, which has recently been the target of harsh media criticism for having failed to prevent a deadly terrorist attack on a military outpost in eastern Turkey which left 17 soldiers dead, responded to the accusations on Monday.
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At a press conference led by Land Forces Commander Gen. Işık Koşaner, it rejected allegations that a series of intelligence and command failures led to the deadly attack, saying that a probe found there was no flaw in intelligence, force deployment or command. However, the top commander left key questions unanswered, including how dozens of outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists were able to arrive at the scene of the attack and how their arrival in the area went unnoticed. While some appreciated the General Staff finally responding to the criticism, the fact that it failed to answer all questions left many unsatisfied. Bugün's Erhan Başyurt, says Koşaner's statement left lingering questions about the military's failure to prevent the deadly attack on the Aktütün outpost; however, he appreciates that the General Staff finally took the accusations seriously and responded to them. "If only such maturity had been demonstrated at first," he regrets, recalling how Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ rebuked the media when allegations about the military failure first became public. In the wake of this, Başyurt considers Koşaner's response to allegations about the Aktütün attack an important step by the military toward the accountability and transparency required in democratic societies. "I believe the General Staff will adopt this attitude in future cases as well. And I have full confidence that the General Staff will question itself in order to dispel criticism that it covers up the mistakes of its members. Now, the only thing that should be done is to thank to the General Staff," says Başyurt. Another Bugün columnist, Nuh Gönültaş, is not as happy as Başyurt about Koşaner's statements denying all charges against the General Staff. "In short, the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] has no fault in the occurrence of the Aktütün attack. If 17 soldiers die when it makes zero mistakes, does this mean that there will be bloodshed when the TSK makes any mistakes? Come on. Is it possible to talk about zero mistakes when the human factor is so involved in a case? What does 'zero mistakes' mean? What does it mean to have no fault?" asks Gönültaş. Sabah's Emre Aköz likens Koşaner's news conference to a news conference held by the coach of a football team which has recently been defeated. "We've seen some manipulative and incorrect news appearing in the media about our team. Our club president has already made the necessary statements [referring to Başbuğ]. Today, I will add some more information in order to eliminate misunderstanding and hesitation. I would like to first mention that there is no evidence proving the media's allegations. The allegations are false. Just as has been the case all along, the incident has been thoroughly investigated in all of its aspects. When all the stages of the match were examined, it was seen that our team played properly in terms of soccer technique and tactics. Our soccer players courageously fulfilled their duties and defended the goal heroically," says Aköz sarcastically.
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| 29 October 2008, Wednesday |
| FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK |
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