, following his accusations that senior military commanders orchestrated the dismissal of five lieutenants for reciting an unauthorized oath and chanting a secularist slogan at their graduation.){kind=link}
Turkey’s Ministry of Defense said Wednesday it would pursue legal action against Özgür Özel, chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), following his accusations that senior military commanders orchestrated the dismissal of five lieutenants for reciting an unauthorized oath and chanting a secularist slogan at their graduation.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in a speech at his party’s expanded provincial chairs meeting on Wednesday, delivered a stern warning to Özel.
“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 have no right to attack the military’s command echelon. We will do what is necessary, and we will file lawsuits, including for damages, against those involved.”
Özel, in response, dismissed Erdoğan’s remarks as an intimidation attempt. “You can’t scare me or any member of the CHP. If you want a showdown, here we are,” Özel said during a speech on Thursday at a CHP event in İstanbul. He accused Erdoğan of threatening the opposition through the military, asking, “What will you do? Send tanks to our party headquarters? Attack us with guns and rifles? Or will you unleash the mafia groups you are in contact with.”
The Ministry of Defense, through its spokesperson Rear Adm. Zeki Aktürk, said Özel’s accusations against the military’s top brass were unacceptable. “Any statements targeting our force commanders or the Ministry of Defense will be met with legal action,” the ministry said in a statement.
The controversy centers on the ministry’s Supreme Disciplinary Board’s decision to expel five lieutenants after their August 30 graduation ceremony, where they performed a sword ritual and chanted, “We are Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers,” referencing Turkey’s secularist founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. While the government maintains that the dismissals were due to breaches of military discipline, Özel and other opposition figures argue that the officers were expelled for their pro-Atatürk stance.
Özel has been particularly vocal in alleging that Land Forces Commander Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu and Naval Forces Commander Adm. Ercüment Tatlıoğlu played a key role in pressuring the disciplinary board to expel the lieutenants. He claimed that Lt. Gen. Tevfik Algan, who chaired the board, had initially opposed the decision but was forced to step down after resisting pressure from military leadership.
During a speech in parliament on Tuesday, Özel named Bayraktaroğlu and Tatlıoğlu, accusing them of engaging in behind-the-scenes maneuvering to remove the young officers.“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. “Just as I once told [former defense minister] Hulusi Akar, I am now telling you: You are men who have earned the curses, not the blessings, of your comrades.”
Erdoğan, in his speech on Wednesday, also linked Özel’s remarks to broader allegations of irregularities within the CHP’s internal politics. “Lately, everything coming out of the opposition reeks of corruption, from their party congress to their financial dealings,” Erdoğan said, referring to an ongoing judicial investigation into alleged vote-buying during CHP’s 2023 leadership election.
CHP leaders have strongly rejected the investigation as politically motivated. CHP parliamentary group chairman Ali Mahir Başarır condemned Erdoğan’s threats against Özel, saying, “You cannot threaten our leader using the military. We are not like the appointed ministers who tremble before you.”
The Ministry of Defense has not specified a timeline for filing the lawsuit but emphasized that all legal options would be pursued.