Imagine that your son, husband, partner or brother is doing the obligatory military service, and two soldiers come to your home. They say, "We regret to inform you that your beloved has become a martyr (i.e. died)." As is expected of you, you may use the cliché "May the fatherland be spared." We know that it happens like that. The same happened with the families of İbrahim, İbrahim, Ali Osman and Mesut - they said farewell to their sons with "fortitude".
"Accidental explosion"
According to the reports; "A group of soldiers at the Koçyiğitler gendarmerie command in the Karakoçan district of Elazığ province went on duty after lunch. During their watch, the hand grenade that one of them was carrying accidentally exploded. Seven soldiers were injured, four of them severely. The wounded soldiers were taken to the Elazığ Military Hospital by helicopter, but privates Ali Osman Altın, İbrahim Yaman, İbrahim Öztürk and Mesut Bulut became martyrs (i.e. died) on the way. The three wounded soldiers were treated in hospital. When the families of the martyrs were told, the pain was great."
However, when we read an article by Mehmet Baransu in the Taraf newspaper today, we find that the young people did not die as their families and the public were told; in fact, if we had thought about it a bit, we would also have noticed inconsistencies.
Let me return to the day of 17 August. Four young men, born in 1988, were buried in Samsun, Tarsus, Afyonkarahisar and Gaziantep. The funerals were attended by commanders of the area, MPs, mayors and governors, everyone saddened.
Exulting martyrdom, ignoring responsibility
In retrospect, the most meaningful speech was made by Lieutenant Murat Basten at the funeral of Ali Osman Altın: "No one will be strong enough to separate and split up the state of the Turkish Republic. Those who aim to do so have no knowledge of history, and they are traitors."
[...] He added:
"We share the pain of the heroic family of our heroic martyr. You must know that he will forever live in the bosom of the great Turkish nation, in the shadow of the flag with the star and the crescent, with the most sacred and most honourable rank, that of a martyr."
[...]
Ali Osman Altın: Three months left
Ali Osman was the youngest of eight siblings, four sisters and four brothers. He did not even use leave to attend his brother's wedding. He had three months of military service left.
When his mother Zakire, who lives in Büyükkalecik, Afyonkarahisar, heard that her son had died, she collapsed. Father Ali İhsan and brothers Ahmet, Mehmet and Ali stayed strong during the funeral. We don't know the names of the sisters or how they reacted.
Some newspapers quoted the father as saying, "I have become the father of a martyr", or "That was fate, may the fatherland be preserved."
İbrahim Öztürk: From Diyarbakır to Tarsus
İbrahim had one and a half months left. He was the only child of Neriman and Hacı Öztürk. They are from Diyarbakır, but live in Tarsus. We should all think about why and when they had to migrate.
The mother and father hugged their son's coffin and cried out Kurdish laments.
Mesut Bulut: Had Asked for Baklava
Mesut would have been back home 75 days later. He was the oldest of eight siblings. His family are farmers. His mother Mevlide and father Sinan hugged the coffin of their son, wrapped in a Turkish flag, crying. Relatives and women at the funeral sang Turkish and Kurdish laments. Mesut was buried in the village where he was born.
His father said, "He had less than 100 days left. Three days ago he asked us to send baklava sweets so that he could celebrate with his friends."
İbrahim Yaman: Had Been at Sister's Wedding
İbrahim, the second of four siblings, was to finish his military service in November. Two weeks ago, he had taken leave to attend his sister's wedding in Samsun.
His family are farmers; his mother Nuriye and father Adem were told about his death as they were picking hazelnuts. Health personnel looked after the family, who collapsed.
How did they die?
The Taraf newspaper has found statements from eye witnesses of the event, Sergeant Yiğit Acar, Sergeant Şakir Akçan and Private Recep Koyuncu.
Şakır Akçan said that when he found that İbrahim Öztürk had been sleeping on duty, he took his hand grenade and handed it over to Lieutenant Mehmet Tümer.
Recep Koyuncu reported that Tümer went to İbrahim's post, pulled the pin from the hand grenade, gave it to İbrahim, said, "if you let go of the lever, you will die", and left.
"You are going to kill me"
"Ibrahim asked the lieutenant to give him the pin. He said, 'I have 75 days left, you are going to kill me.' Lieutenant Mehmet told him to go to his post and that he would put the pin back in time. İbrahim went back to the Lieutenant and asked for the pin, and was again refused. Ten-fifteen minutes later the explosion happened."
In his statement, the Lieutenant agreed with the other statements. He said, "Whe I heard an explosion, I ran to where the noise came from. I saw İbrahim collapsed on the floor."
No comment from the army
İbrahim, İbrahim, Ali Osman and Mesut died; we don't know the names or the condition of the other three wounded young men.
The official website of the General Staff, tsk.mil.tr, does not mention the incident with one word. But there are lots of messages regarding "National Victory Week".
And are we not all busy debating the rather early 30 August (National Victory Day) message of Chief of General Staff İlker Başbuğ, who is dictating to the people of htis country what we can think how, and what is possible?
The Chief of General Staff should rather tell us the reason for the lies about the deaths of İbrahim, İbrahim, Ali Osman and Mesut and details about the investigation. And as we are discussing a political discussion to the Kurdish solution, we should stop making headlines out of statements made in the name of the Turkish Armed Forces. (NM/EÜ/AG)
