 chairman criticized top military commanders over the expulsion of five lieutenants from the Turkish Armed Forces.){kind=link}
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned main opposition leader Özgür Özel to “watch his step” after the Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman criticized top military commanders over the expulsion of five lieutenants from the Turkish Armed Forces.
Erdoğan lashed out at Özel on Wednesday after the CHP leader criticized senior military officials for their role in the expulsion of lieutenants who chanted a secularist slogan and performed an unauthorized oath ceremony after their graduation.
Speaking at his party’s expanded provincial chairs meeting, Erdoğan defended Land Forces Commander Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu and Naval Forces Commander Adm. Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, whom Özel accused of pressuring a disciplinary board to expel the lieutenants.
Erdoğan also announced plans to encourage legal action against Özel for what he described as baseless attacks on military leadership.
“I am addressing you as the commander-in-chief,” Erdoğan said. “Watch your step, and if you don’t, we will make sure you do. You do not have the authority to attack the command echelon of the military: Know your place. I will convene my command staff and we will file lawsuits, including for damages, against those involved.”
Erdoğan added that Minister of Defense Yaşar Güler and other top officials would take legal action against Özel for his statements.
The controversy stems from the expulsion of five lieutenants who performed an unauthorized oath ceremony, which included a sword-crossing ritual and the chant, “We are Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers,” referencing Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The Supreme Disciplinary Board ruled that the ceremony violated military discipline, but Özel and other opposition figures denounced the expulsions as politically motivated.
Özel claimed that Lt. Gen. Tevfik Algan, then-deputy chief of staff of the Land Forces and chairman of the disciplinary board, had opposed the expulsion decision and was subsequently forced out of his position. Algan later opted to retire rather than accept reassignment.
During his speech, Özel directly accused generals Bayraktaroğlu and Tatlıoğlu of engineering the dismissals and engaging in internal power struggles. “I know who pressured Algan, who pushed for the expulsion of these lieutenants and who worked behind the scenes in the media to amplify this process,” Özel said. He went on to describe the two commanders as figures who had “earned the curses, not the blessings” of their comrades and pledged to hold them accountable if the CHP comes to power.
Erdoğan dismissed Özel’s accusations as politically motivated and accused the CHP leader of trying to undermine the military. He also used the opportunity to criticize the opposition more broadly, pointing to alleged irregularities within the CHP’s 2023 leadership election that brought Özel to lead the party instead of former chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
“Instead of turning the parliament’s podium into a stage for pointless polemics, Özel should answer the allegations of irregularities in his own party,” Erdoğan said. “He talks a lot, but he talks nonsense.”
Erdoğan’s remarks came as Ankara prosecutors continued an investigation into alleged vote-buying during the CHP’s 38th Ordinary Congress, where Özel defeated former party leader Kılıçdaroğlu. The probe, launched after a complaint filed in Bursa, alleges that delegates were offered financial incentives to vote for Özel, a claim that CHP officials have strongly denied. Critics see the case as part of a broader pattern of judicial intervention benefiting Erdoğan’s political interests, similar to past court rulings that favored his allies in internal party disputes.
The dispute highlights ongoing tensions between Erdoğan’s government and Turkey’s secularist opposition, which has accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of eroding Atatürk’s legacy and reshaping the military along more conservative lines.