Turkish Armed Forces Respond to Coup Claims

Click here to read the article in Turkish / Habeirn Türkçesi için buraya tıklayın. 

In the morning hours today (March 31) Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) made a written statement on coup claims on the media recently.  

The statement has indicated that TSK had carried out its duties in accordance with the tasks entrusted by the law and the Constitution and based upon the commitment to the constitutional principles of state of law, rule of law and democratic society.

Rubin’s claims

The coup claims had arisen following an article of the Middle East Expert Michael Rubin from the US published on the website of American Enterprise Institute on March 21. In his Turkey analysis, Rubin had written that the “The situation in Turkey is bad and getting worse”.

Noting “[...] President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is out-of-control. He is imprisoning opponents, seizing newspapers left and right, and building palaces at the rate of a mad sultan or aspiring caliph”, Rubin has implied that the US would only  “offer lip service against a coup, but they would work with the new regime”.

Response from US

US State Department Spokesperson, John Kirby has described the claims of “US trying to overthrow the AKP Government and Erdoğan” reported by some media outlets in Turkey as “silly claims not even worth answering”.  

Response from TSK

Some headlines from TSK’s statement upon latest developments  are as follows:

* The groundless news and comments on certain media organs do affect the spirit and the motivation of our heroic fellow soldiers in a negative way and disturb all our members”.

“Criminal complaint filed”

* Discipline, absolute obedience and single command are basic principles in the TSK. No illegal structure out of the command chain hierarchy and/or practice can be accepted.

* Legal action has been taken and criminal complaint has been filed against those responsible for these news and comments which obviously have totally different motives, lack a humane, conscientious and rational basis and far from press ethics and attitude.

Click here to read the full article of Michael Rubin on American Enterprise Institute. 

(HK/DG)