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Ten questions for Başbuğ
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Though overall daily circulation of national newspapers in Turkey has remained at around 6 million copies for many decades, despite sharp increases in the population, there are still people who read them every morning. For the many years, after going through the news agency reports, I generally start the day by reading the Radikal newspaper.
Why? Even though I might not subscribe to the obsessive evaluations made by some of its writers, I believe that most of the time the paper manages to separate news and commentary, as is very much in the Anglo-Saxon media tradition, which I tried my best to achieve when working as an editor.
On April 26, Radikal posed a set of questions to General İlker Başbuğ, the top commander of the Turkish military. The general is expected to host a press conference today and perhaps, rather than confining himself to the delivery of a long statement, he will answer at least some of the questions from journalists. So, despite the awareness that he will likely not do so, in anticipation of Başbuğ providing an answer to them, I borrowed some ideas from Radikal, added some of my own, and prepared the following list of questions:
1. To the vast majority of Turks, the Turkish military remains the most trusted institution. Yet we keep reading allegations in the Ergenekon indictments of some serious illegal activities (including coup attempts) by senior active and retired officers. Is there a "smear campaign" being conducted against the military, or do these allegations reflect a bitter reality? What legal actions is the military judiciary taking against these allegations?
2. Do "covert operations" still continue in the military? Or could there be an organization within the military that is autonomous or independent from the chain of command and can engage in activities that might be illegal, but considered a requirement of "national security"?
3. What is the meaning of the arms caches found buried here and there? Specifically, what is your response to the revelation that most of these buried weapons and ammunition were manufactured at the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, or MKE, factories for the use of the Turkish military?
4. Is it possible to take any weapon, bomb or ammunition from the depots of the Turkish military without proper authorization? What punitive action has so far been taken against military personnel, at any rank, who may have taken out weapons, bombs or ammunition from military deports without proper authorization?
5. How often does the military make an inventory of the weapons, bombs and ammunition in its depots? What is done when a discrepancy is found between the registered contents of a depot and the outcome of the count?
6. If, irrespective of by whom and how they were buried, the weapons, bombs and ammunition found in caches around the country mostly belong to the military inventory, why has the Turkish military not yet made any public statement as to how those weapons might have been taken out? Are not stockpiles of military arms guarded?
7. If those weapons, bombs and ammunition were stolen from the military, did the military investigate how they were stolen? What measures are being taken to prevent such "theft" in the future?
8. Has there been a general count of the entire weapons stockpile of the military to establish if there are more missing weapons, bombs and ammunition than those that have been found in buried caches thus far?
9. Can the military provide sufficient guarantee that new and effective measures are being taken and that such "theft" will never again occur in the future?
10. Since the buried caches were all found as part of the so-called Ergenekon probe, and since there are allegations that these arms were to be used to realize the "heinous aims" of the "Ergenekon gang," if the Ergenekon trial ends with a verdict endorsing the claims of the prosecutors, would not such a verdict ruin the good reputation of the military and the established confidence of the nation in the military? So, why is the military so silent on this issue?
There are, of course, several more questions that journalists have to ask General Başbuğ, but if he can provide answers to at least some of the above, he will have done a great service to this country.
On April 26, Radikal posed a set of questions to General İlker Başbuğ, the top commander of the Turkish military. The general is expected to host a press conference today and perhaps, rather than confining himself to the delivery of a long statement, he will answer at least some of the questions from journalists. So, despite the awareness that he will likely not do so, in anticipation of Başbuğ providing an answer to them, I borrowed some ideas from Radikal, added some of my own, and prepared the following list of questions:
1. To the vast majority of Turks, the Turkish military remains the most trusted institution. Yet we keep reading allegations in the Ergenekon indictments of some serious illegal activities (including coup attempts) by senior active and retired officers. Is there a "smear campaign" being conducted against the military, or do these allegations reflect a bitter reality? What legal actions is the military judiciary taking against these allegations?
2. Do "covert operations" still continue in the military? Or could there be an organization within the military that is autonomous or independent from the chain of command and can engage in activities that might be illegal, but considered a requirement of "national security"?
3. What is the meaning of the arms caches found buried here and there? Specifically, what is your response to the revelation that most of these buried weapons and ammunition were manufactured at the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, or MKE, factories for the use of the Turkish military?
4. Is it possible to take any weapon, bomb or ammunition from the depots of the Turkish military without proper authorization? What punitive action has so far been taken against military personnel, at any rank, who may have taken out weapons, bombs or ammunition from military deports without proper authorization?
5. How often does the military make an inventory of the weapons, bombs and ammunition in its depots? What is done when a discrepancy is found between the registered contents of a depot and the outcome of the count?
6. If, irrespective of by whom and how they were buried, the weapons, bombs and ammunition found in caches around the country mostly belong to the military inventory, why has the Turkish military not yet made any public statement as to how those weapons might have been taken out? Are not stockpiles of military arms guarded?
7. If those weapons, bombs and ammunition were stolen from the military, did the military investigate how they were stolen? What measures are being taken to prevent such "theft" in the future?
8. Has there been a general count of the entire weapons stockpile of the military to establish if there are more missing weapons, bombs and ammunition than those that have been found in buried caches thus far?
9. Can the military provide sufficient guarantee that new and effective measures are being taken and that such "theft" will never again occur in the future?
10. Since the buried caches were all found as part of the so-called Ergenekon probe, and since there are allegations that these arms were to be used to realize the "heinous aims" of the "Ergenekon gang," if the Ergenekon trial ends with a verdict endorsing the claims of the prosecutors, would not such a verdict ruin the good reputation of the military and the established confidence of the nation in the military? So, why is the military so silent on this issue?
There are, of course, several more questions that journalists have to ask General Başbuğ, but if he can provide answers to at least some of the above, he will have done a great service to this country.
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