The Fallacies of Turkish Military Life

In my previous articles, I had stated that, in addition to increasing the sense of belonging, conducting the training for the transition from non-commissioned officer to officer at the TurAF would serve the unity of graduating from the same school and eliminate discrimination between officers and those who transition from non-commissioned officer to officer. Recently, I learnt with satisfaction that the training of the personnel who successfully completed the exam for transition from non-commissioned officer to officer is now being carried out in Istanbul at the Air Force Headquarters. I see this practice as a progress. I believe that it will increase the confidence of our military personnel serving in the Air Force in the system and reduce the resource differences between the officers to some extent.

The title of this article is Galat-ı Meşhurhur. According to TDK, Galat-ı Meşhur is defined as "words that are accepted by everyone even though they are wrong ’. In this context, I would like to focus on the names/words that we commonly use in the Turkish Armed Forces, and more so in the Turkish society, and which have been accepted by everyone, and which have now each become a common misnomer. In this context, I will examine the common beliefs and understandings that have become common misnomers regarding some social and health facilities that are mostly used by military personnel, such as Military Lodgings, Military Camps, Army Houses, Military Personnel Services, Army Assistance Institution OYAK, and Military Hospitals.

I will share with you my views on what the names of foundations/associations etc. established within or outside the military, which have the purpose and mission of a kind of insurance for the military, mean to us in general, and what kind of misunderstanding these names can lead to when they are defined and expressed incorrectly.

As you know, Nimrod had a fire of unprecedented size lit to throw Abraham into it. In the meantime, other people who were watching what was going to happen saw an ant going towards the fire with a drop of water in its mouth and asked the ant, ‘What are you trying to do? The ant said, ‘I am going to put out the fire. People laughed at the ant saying, ‘How will you extinguish the fire with a drop of water in your mouth?’ The ant replied; ‘yes, maybe a drop of water cannot extinguish the fire, but the purpose is to make our ranks clear!’ I say that our side should be to talk about the right things rather than falsehoods.

Military Housing:

The residential areas within the boundaries of military barracks or regions, where military personnel and civil servants and workers working in the armed forces reside for a certain period of time within the rules and practices in the regulations, are briefly defined as lodgings within the military and among the public.

However, by ignoring the technical details, I believe that defining every dwelling where TAF personnel reside or are tenants as lodgings may cause the decisions taken/to be taken regarding the dwellings in the military area to be wrong, sometimes lead to victimisation, and sometimes lead to undesirable consequences, for example, as a result of the sale of lodgings in possible extraordinary situations or periods of tension. In fact, the importance of these facilities, whose technical definition is ‘Alarm Housing Facilities’ and which are included in the word ‘lodging’, should not be ignored.

The readiness of a military unit to be ready in its unit within the given time period (as soon as possible) in any extraordinary situation can only be ensuredby living areas close to the unit, in other words, byAlarm Housing Facilities.

If we see the Alarm Accommodation Facilities in a simple lodging classification, if we force the personnel to live in rented houses far away from the unit, when an extraordinary situation develops, the personnel will not be able to get up from their homes and join their military unit at the desired time.

Even in the darkness of the night, under conditions where there is almost no public transport, the commanders of the units have to call the personnel to ‘join the unit immediately’ in accordance with the call-up plans. Ensuring that military personnel live in alarm housing facilities constructed in an area neighbouring the unit is primarily considered as a requirement for the uninterrupted execution of the mission of the unit. This practice is not unique to Turkey. Therefore, decisions that are taken/may be taken in the context of ‘let's remove or sell the lodgings’, without understanding and researching the importance and necessity of the alarm housing facilities, will result in the unit becoming unable to fulfil its duties. After all, an alarm housing facility is like a ‘nail’. Let us not forget, ‘A nail saves a shoe, a shoe saves a horse, a horse saves a Commander, a Commander saves an army, an army saves a country.’ From this point of view, I would like to underline that the generalisation of the common definitions should be accepted as correct and that residences designed and built according to special areas and needs, such as alarm housing facilities, should not be considered as lodgings and should not be disposed of.

Military Camps

Military winter/summer camps are generally referred to as recreation and holiday areas. However, the main duty and purpose of these military camps is to be training centres for military units. Camps are not only centres for sleeping and holidaying. This perception needs to be corrected. On the other hand, if there are military camps that do not really serve any other purpose than just serving for holidays, a separate evaluation can be made for them. A general evaluation can also be made together with the camps under the control of other bureaucratic organs of the state (Ministry of National Education, General Directorate of Forestry, General Directorate of Security, Special Administration Camps, etc.). However, in the end, some military camps that serve as training centres for military units should continue to be kept and protected as training centres in the system, and continue to serve in this context. I believe that if we take refuge in the fallacy of abolishing all camps, we will be making wrong decisions.

Army centres

Army houses are used for a wide range of purposes such as meeting the social and moral needs of the personnel, increasing solidarity among the personnel, providing an environment for professional and social development, providing accommodation services like a hotel, as well as various training, courses, seminars, conferences, symposiums, etc., gathering military personnel and sometimes their families together and enabling the personnel to benefit from the valuable opinions of expert speakers.

Ignoring these benefits and considering army houses as mere hotels is nothing but a common misconception. Because when viewed in this way, it leads to the perception of army houses as places that have no meaning other than meeting the accommodation needs of military personnel in a city where they come for duty. Moreover, army houses are one of the leading meeting places for military retirees residing in a big city due to the services they offer and their affordable price policy. The retired personnel and the personnel on duty come together in these places, and the young personnel benefit from the experience of the retired personnel as much as possible by coming together in such environments. Retired personnel also have the opportunity to renew their desire to live a more peaceful and happy old age life without being separated from the military life they have been a part of for many years, to socialise and to continue to hold on to life without the unbearable burden of loneliness by coming to an army house, which they have now adopted as their home.

I consider it valuable and necessary for the personnel and their families serving in the armed forces, the guarantee of the indivisible integrity of the country, to come together in places such as army houses and to share things together. In addition, it is also beneficial for the personnel to come together in army houses from time to time outside the unit, to keep an eye on each other in a social sense, and especially for young personnel not to fall into ‘harmful’ ways. Because as we all know, ‘The wolf catches those who leave the herd.’ It is not appropriate for military personnel to hang out in undesirable environments and to make undesirable places their home. They should be in environments where they can preserve their qualities and characteristics of being a soldier as much as possible. Every personnel serving in the armed forces knows that personnel who go to environments that do not befit a soldier, and who are exposed to the corrupting effects of these environments, have ‘corrupting’ effects for military units. After a certain point, it becomes almost impossible for unit commanders and their colleagues to ‘set them on the right path’. Some of them turn into people who just turn up for their shifts in a swampy situation. Here, army houses also serve as places to ‘look after’ and protect such personnel. For a strong army, modern army houses are not the proverbial hotels, but places that are built and used to serve a wide range of useful purposes. Army houses should be approached with this awareness and understanding, and the decisions taken should be aimed at ensuring the future of the Turkish Armed Forces and benefiting its personnel.

Military Shuttles and Transport Services Used by Military Personnel

Personnel shuttles are a necessity especially in city centres, where public transport is not available or is available in limited numbers. Just as it is a necessity for the personnel of schools, factories and workplaces, it is also a necessity for the transportation of military personnel serving in military units. It is easy to say that personnel shuttles should be cancelled. The soldier should ‘commute by public transport. It should not be a burden on the state.’ Similar inaccurate evaluations can be made. Thoughts such as providing the necessary increase in salaries and adding transport support money may be correct in theory, but in practice things do not work that way. For a period of time, the state had made additions to the salaries by appreciating the lodging money. However, later on, these salaries started to be kept fixed. After all, in a country with inflation, the state support to meet transport and accommodation needs should be increased at least at the rate of inflation, but when this does not happen for various reasons, it happens to the staff. The personnel are being victimised. This is not right. Therefore, understandings such as the issue will be solved with the state's support for transport, and there will be no need for shuttles, no matter how well-intentioned they may be, are disconnected from practical realities and bring about undesirable results.

If the military units, headquarters and institutions are located, for example, in Kızılay in the centre of Ankara, public transport facilities may be sufficient. However, how will military personnel stationed at an air base located outside the city, for example near a village in Kahramankazan, get to and from their homes in the city? Is it possible for public transport facilities to transport all these personnel? Moreover, municipal administrations do not have such a responsibility.

As a result, just as it is said that ‘there is no saving in reputation!’, there is no saving in meeting some of the needs of military personnel employed by the state as the guarantee of the defence and security of our country. There can be no savings in security and defence. Because military personnel are essentially state officials whose salaries are paid with the taxes of the people in peacetime for the security and defence of the Turkish society. For the security of the people and their defence when war breaks out, we need to offer solutions that will encourage military service in peacetime and will not make the personnel who choose military service as a profession unhappy while travelling to and from their units far from city centres. This is the essence of the matter. In meeting such needs, I believe that decisions should be taken in a way that will ensure the survival of the nation, not according to the wrong perceptions of the public based on the wrong assessments, and solutions should be brought to the issues with the seriousness of the state.

OYAK (Army Assistance Institution)

OYAK is an autonomous institution established by law in 1961 under the Ministry of National Defence. OYAK is a structure that provides additional assistance to its members in case of retirement, death and disability, and was established to respond to concerns similar to today's Individual Pension System (BES).

There is a common perception in the society that military personnel receive benefits/compensation from OYAK after retirement. However, as we all know, all personnel serving in the Turkish Armed Forces (some personnel are excluded in the laws), including reserve officers and reserve non-commissioned officers, are subject to mandatory deductions at certain rates from their salaries upon joining the army. At the end of their service in the Turkish Armed Forces, personnel who deserve to retire are entitled to receive their retirement indemnity as a result of the deductions they have paid to the social security institution, just as the members are entitled to receive the indemnity corresponding to the necessary calculations as a result of the deductions they have paid to the social security institution.

Today, just as public employees are encouraged to become members of the Private Pension System, OYAK is an organisation that encourages Turkish Armed Forces personnel to become members, and as a result, the personnel can receive the return of the investments made from their own salaries through OYAK as additional income during their retirement period, and as a result, Turkish Armed Forces retirees are partially protected against the cost of living. If you have heard TAF retirees who are not OYAK members saying ‘I wish we had become a member of OYAK in time’, I believe you will better appreciate what I mean. OYAK, which is now a coveted institution as a system similar to the Private Pension System in today's conditions, is ultimately the legal investment body of TAF personnel and is the institution where they receive an income in return for years of saving. Otherwise, as the saying goes, no one gives money to anyone for free.

Military Hospitals, Military Health Institutions

The term ‘Military Hospital’ is also used incorrectly in the Turkish society in general and even among the personnel of the Armed Forces. The correct term is ASKER HOSPITAL. I can almost hear you saying, ‘Are there even any military hospitals left? You are right, in fact, if you look at the generality of our article, one of the best examples of wrong decisions based on our world of thought shaped according to the perceptions that are shaped according to the misunderstood perceptions is the closure of military hospitals.

All personnel in the military health system were employed to solve the health problems of the Turkish Armed Forces personnel and their family members, of which they were also a part. Turkish military doctors and health personnel, who devoted themselves to healing their patients under difficult conditions, were working to find solutions to the possible health problems of Mehmet soldiers, who had to live together, eat together in large dining halls, and sleep side by side in barracks. Since they themselves had lived in these barracks for a period of time, at least during their cadet years, they had the understanding to foresee the problems and the deterioration in health conditions that led to possible illnesses. Some diseases that are unique to military barracks are diseases that recur over the years. If this cycle is not recognised in advance and preventive health measures are not put in place, a large number of soldiers may be exposed to epidemics in a short period of time. When this reality is taken into account, the need for military health personnel to serve as part of the barracks and military units automatically emerges. A civilian understanding of health, which is outside these units and barracks and expects the aging personnel to come and be examined at their own feet, cannot naturally be expected to be a part of preventive steps. Nor can such a responsibility be attributed to them. For this reason, I would like to express that I do not find the rushed decisions taken in line with the well-known assessments that deem military health personnel unnecessary to be correct. In fact, the mistakes in this decision have been seen in time and the need to make arrangements in the military health system similar to the old system has emerged. The experiences and gains that the military health system has gained over many years within its own conditions have been destroyed in an instant. How will we regain them now?

Our approach to military hospitals inevitably reminded me of a joke of Nasreddin Hodja:

One winter day, while Nasreddin Hodja was clearing the knee-deep snow accumulated on the roof of his house, he lost his balance and fell from the roof to the ground and fainted. He stayed there just like that. His neighbours come running to him. One of them said, ‘Let's call a doctor quickly.’, the other said, ‘Let's find a fracturer.’, the other said, ‘Let's take him to the doctor on our backs.’ The hodja, who sobered up from the noise and commotion, grabbed his aching back and said;

‘Stop arguing, quickly find me someone who has fallen off the roof before’.

As can be understood from this famous joke, we may not be able to fully understand the value and meaning of systems such as the military health system, which have developed and matured over the years, under peaceful conditions, but we should also know that this system will emerge when it is really needed. When war breaks out tomorrow, I would like the people who defend these inaccurate understandings to think about how a medical army with no military experience, especially one that has not served in military units, can serve alongside the soldiers at the front. Above all, it is hoped that the wrongs will somehow be reversed and that it will not be too late.

TAF Associations and Foundations

For some reason, military personnel and military retirees, let alone other members of Turkish society, tend to approach associations and foundations established within or outside the TAF with prejudice. In the perspective of associations and foundations, which are essentially non-governmental organisations established on the basis of the needs that have arisen over the years, misperceptions may arise in the minds of those who are based on the evaluations that have been made on the basis of the common misconceptions. However, when the objectives of associations and foundations and the benefits they provide/will provide to military personnel even when they retire are explained to them by experts in this field, the colour of the work changes, and military personnel and military retirees who have been denigrating these associations and foundations based on misperceptions may finally have the opportunity to realise that they have made a wrong assessment. They become members of these associations and foundations, which they had previously viewed with a cold eye, because they now have the chance to get rid of their misconceptions.

All associations and foundations established by Turkish Armed Forces personnel have been established to fulfil a function and service focused on military personnel and military pensioners. When you look at the year-end reviews of these associations and foundations, you can see that they have helped and provided assistance, including education and death grants, to many Mehmet soldiers, military personnel and their family members who are suffering and experiencing difficulties. If you visit the websites of associations and foundations, you will see many examples of what I mean and you will appreciate what I mean. I would like to conclude this paragraph with a meaningful saying; "We are all candidates for disability. ’ I hope that none of us will become a disabled person, but each of us can add a pinch of salt to the soup of a comrade-in-arms or their loved ones in distress through these associations and foundations.

As you would appreciate, every organisation has a union such as Eğitim-Sen, Sağlık-Sen, Diyanet-Sen, Memur-Sen. These unions are organisations established to protect the rights of the employees, to improve their working conditions and to bargain collectively in order to increase the salaries in a way that the personnel will not suffer from inflation. On the other hand, TAF personnel are apolitical by nature. Beyond voting in elections, they cannot be members of any political organisation or trade union. I personally consider this to be a correct practice and I find it necessary for the institutional integrity of the TAF. Therefore, I believe that it is not appropriate for military personnel to be involved in an organisation such as unionisation like other state personnel working in the civilian bureaucracy.

On the other hand, there are social solidarity associations and foundations established by military retirees in order to convey the feelings, thoughts and expectations regarding certain personal and social rights within the TAF or among military retirees to the relevant organs of the state in an appropriate format and on time. In this context, I believe that it would be appropriate for military retirees to become members of associations such as the Association of Retired Officers of Turkey (TESUD) and the Association of Retired Non-Commissioned Officers of Turkey (TEMAD), which strive to serve in line with their founding objectives.

I believe that all kinds of troubles experienced by us can be legally communicated to the relevant authorities through associations and foundations. The power of such associations and foundations will increase with the number of members and the participation that we will provide, and they will be able to take a more proactive role in correcting the things we talk about among ourselves.

Conclusion and Evaluation

Members of the Turkish Armed Forces who swear an oath on their most valuable asset, their life, and enter into a marriage with the state, becoming officers, non-commissioned officers, specialists, contracted privates, etc., are not only acquiring a profession. They are transitioning from civilian life to military life. This is not an easy thing for everyone to do. For a real Turkish soldier, the continents, barracks and headquarters, which may seem like prisons to some, are like a prophet's hearth.

I am of the opinion that it is a service to the homeland to make the sons of the beloved homeland, who fulfil their duty with many appointments for the sake of the homeland under difficult conditions with all their family members by considering every inch of land where the supreme Turkish flag is waved as homeland, happy in every aspect in the world.

It is primarily the duty of the state to ensure that the valuable military members of my beloved nation live a life worthy of human dignity without being victimised both during their duty and during their retirement periods. In matters that do not fall under the responsibility of the state, the institutions established by military personnel come together and contribute to raising the living standards of retired soldiers, especially during their retirement periods.

Military service has always been attractive and appealing to our nation. However, considering the differences in the upbringing of successive generations and the current situation, military service should be encouraged. I have the feeling that the attractiveness and appeal of this ‘profession’ is gradually decreasing in the eyes of new generations. I believe that it is the responsibility of all of us to reverse this wind for the survival of our nation and country.

I do not think it is right to act with a mentality that treats the popular misconceptions as if they were true, and to take decisions such as ‘let's close down’ army houses, military camps, military hospitals, OYAK and similar institutions and organisations without calculating the end result. Each institution and organisation within the TAF or in connection with the TAF has a story and a value. As seen in the decision on military hospitals, it is easy to take a decision, but it is difficult to eliminate the shortcomings of military hospitals and to fill the resulting gaps properly. It is necessary to take steps and make decisions with wisdom, without falling prey to misconceptions.