Vice PM Kurtulmuş: Army won’t Enter Politics

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish 

Vice Prime Minister and Government Spokesperson Numan Kurtulmuş issued a press conference yesterday (February 27).

Kurtulmuş made comments on an article entitled “The headquarters is disturbed / Seven Responses to Seven Questions” by Hande Fırat from Hürriyet newspaper.

The article included seven criticisms directed against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and seven responses given by an anonymous source.

Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into the article.

While the newspaper hasn’t made any explanation about the investigation, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım commented “They are trying to regulate the government through headlines”. Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ also criticized the article and said, “Nobody, no force can regulate Turkish nation, TBMM (the Grand National Assembly of Turkey) and Turkish government”.

“Turkey is not the old Turkey anymore”

About the headline of the newspaper, Kurtulmuş said:

“It looks as there are some who is disturbed by the Turkish Armed Forces working in harmony with civil will and government in Turkey.

“Turkey is not the old Turkey anymore. Within this respect, everyone should be careful of their words.

“It is not possible anymore to regulate neither Turkish Armed Forces, nor civil will and government of Turkey.

“The Turkish Armed Forces will never enter politics, and that no one can afford to push the Turkish Armed Forces into politics”. (AS/TK)