Turkish Forum

Tag: TSK

  • Turkish President to infract Neutrality…

    Turkish President to infract Neutrality…

    cumhurbaskani abdullah gul1As you all know, in parliamentary systems of government, the Presidents, as Head of State, stand for the state, which charges them the obligation to reflect neutrality, no matter whether they are from a political party out of the parliament. In Turkey, additionally, the President is supposed to stand for the republic and, thus, the “people of Turkey”, which enforces him to be neutral as an ethical and moral task.

    The mentioned neutrality that should supposedly be considered by Presidents is of a greater importance especially in times of elections. Although the neutrality in state issues could not be properly observed throughout his presidency which is evident in the activities that he has carried out in his office so far: The immediate and absolute ratification of the government decrees and draft bills, the way of appointing university rectors, the expressions absolutely in line with those of government etc., one expected a clear attitude of neutrality from the President at least in the course of the general elections. This he pretended to show by declaring that he would not make official state visits within Turkey until the end of the elections. This can be taken to be an appreciable attitude; however, in his official visit in Poland, he transgressed the rule of neutrality more than once.

    When he was asked about the questions concerning the “freedom of thought” and “freedom of press” in Turkey by referring to the journalists and authors under arrest, he reacted just like a judge saying: “those people were not arrested due to their writings, but due to what they have done as the members of illegal terrorist organizations”. It is a pity that Turkish President could clearly explain his prejudices about uncompleted case in which nobody is either guilty or innocent yet, as the universal rule of “presumption of innocence” envisages. This saying conspicuously showed the prejudices in background coated by the pretensions of so-called neutrality.
    A second infraction of neutrality was in the course of the interview with the journalists, in which President Gul claimed to know that some MPs were threatened by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) not to participate in elections of President in the parliament in 2007. Although the ones, claimed to do that denied the allegations, the agenda-setting mechanism of the power functions very well. It is another pity that Turkish politics
    was thought to need to be interfered at the level of President, when we are five days away from the general elections.     I think the subjects of the story are consoling themselves by saying “anything goes in politics”.

    While saying these all, President Gul should have considered the peace and the safety of the election-process in Turkey which is psychologically a necessity with the sense of duty. Therefore I wish for President Gul to be more neutral, to reflect the will of the whole people regardless of any social cleavage and division. It is an ethical responsibility while standing for the “people”.

    I expect the elections will bring people more hope and not more despair… I hope people will decide in its own favour…
    Edgar ŞAR

    [email protected]

  • Turkish military criticizes arrest of officers in coup trial – Monsters and Critics

    Turkish military criticizes arrest of officers in coup trial – Monsters and Critics

    Istanbul – The Turkish military issued a statement Wednesday criticizing the arrest of more than 100 active duty officers in a controversial coup plot case, a day after an Istanbul court rejected a second appeal for them to be tried without arrest.

    ‘The Turkish Armed Forces has difficulty in understanding the continuing arrest of 163 active duty and retired personnel,’ the statement, published on the General Staff’s website, said.

    In the largest trial of high-ranking military officers in Turkish history, a total of 196 military personnel are charged with conspiring to topple the government in 2003, in a plot codenamed ‘Sledgehammer.’

    In February, prosecutors in the case demanded the arrest of 163 of the defendants – of whom 106 are active duty officers – while the trial continues, using a clause in the penal code allowing detention when there is sufficient evidence of a crime.

    The suspects, who include the former commanders of the Turkish navy and air force, each face 15 to 20 years in prison if convicted.

    The Sledgehammer plot is said to have included bombings of historic mosques in Istanbul, an attack on a military museum and the provocation of military tensions with neighbouring Greece.

    Prosecutors allege the plot would have thrown the country into chaos, allowing the military to step in and remove the mildly Islamist ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) from power.

    The military has denied the allegations, saying the scenarios were part of a hypothetical war game that took place at a military training seminar.

    ‘The Turkish Armed Forces, which has especially avoided any actions that could be seen as interfering with the ongoing judicial process, has explained through repeated statements, in no uncertain terms, what the seminars were, how they were carried out, what they involved and who participated under what orders,’ Wednesday’s statement said.

    The Sledgehammer case has highlighted tensions between the AKP government and Turkey’s powerful military, which sees itself as the guardian of the country’s secular political system.

    While government supporters see the trial as an opportunity to put the military in its place, some observers have called the case a show trial with little legal merit.

    via Turkish military criticizes arrest of officers in coup trial – Monsters and Critics.

  • Turkish military denies asking for ‘photo proof’ of homosexuality

    Turkish military denies asking for ‘photo proof’ of homosexuality

    ISTANBUL – Milliyet

    The TSK denies asking for photos or video footage from gay men to prove their sexual orientation despite reports suggesting otherwise. Hürriyet photo

    The TSK denies asking for photos or video footage from gay men to prove their sexual orientation despite reports suggesting otherwise. Hürriyet photo
    The TSK denies asking for photos or video footage from gay men to prove their sexual orientation despite reports suggesting otherwise. Hürriyet photo

    Turkey’s military is asking for “photographic” proof that people seeking an exemption from compulsory military service on the grounds of their homosexuality are actually gay, the daily Milliyet reported last week, citing recent EU progress reports.

    Many homosexual citizens have reported being asked for photographs or video footage during the process of obtaining a report proving their ineligibility for military service, according to Fırat Söyle, a lawyer for LAMBDA Istanbul, a gay, lesbian and transsexual rights association, daily Taraf reported last week.

    Although such a practice is not listed in the regulations, people are still being asked, Söyle said.

    In both the 2009 and 2010 of the European Union’s progress reports for Turkey, gays were allegedly asked to provide “photographic proof” of their sexual orientation to avoid service.

    The Turkish Armed Forces, or TSK, however, has denied that it asks for photos or video footage from gays to prove their sexual orientation in response to a recent report from German weekly Der Spiegel on the matter.

    Der Spiegel claimed in its report that the TSK had “the world’s greatest porno archive” because of its policy of asking for proof of sexual orientation from people who seek military service exemption, daily Milliyet reported Nov. 14.

    Asked by Turkish website Gazeteport whether the claims were true, the TSK said it had filed a complaint against the weekly with the German Press Council because of the false claims and demanded a correction.

    “The TSK absolutely does not ask for photo or video footage from those who say they are gay. Even if a person brings photos or video footage, they are not considered during the process. The claim that TSK archives those kinds of photos is absolutely false,” the military said.

    The Der Spiegel article also said people with disabilities were required to fulfill military service as well, a claim that was also denied by the military.

    “People with disabilities who can prove their situation with a report from a board of doctors are kept exempt from compulsory military service,” the TSK said.

    The TSK, in its complaint letter to the German Press Council, said the headline of Der Spiegel’s article was “Porno for the General,” which intentionally connected high-ranking officials with pornography and was an deliberate attempt to create a false perception among readers.