How did Air Pilot Major Cengiz SOYKAPLAN, Martyred in Yalova, leave us?

Nowadays, we are talking about the Great Offensive launched on 26 August 1922 on the Western Front against the Greek occupation forces in Afyon. At the same time, an important activity for our military aviation is going on in this historical city. As a stage in the selection process of candidates who will be eligible to enter the Air Force Academy, Student Selection Flights (ÖSU) are being carried out at the Airfield Command in Afyon. Prior to 15 July, the flight instructors who would select new air cadets were selected by the Air Force through temporary assignments from among the pilots serving in the continents. In 2004, Air Pilot Major Cengiz SOYKAPLAN, one of the senior flight instructors serving on C-160 Transall aircraft, was assigned in this context. ÖSU flights were centred at the Air Square Command in Yalova. The flight instructors would stay overnight in the centre of Yalova, and during the day they would commute to Yalova Square, some 15 kilometres away, to make their daily student flights. Cengiz also routinely became a part of this life. On 28 August, on his way to Yalova square for his duty as a flight instructor for the Air Force Academy student auditions, dear Cengiz was killed in a traffic accident. He was buried in Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery in Istanbul on 29 August.

The late Cengiz was born in Kilis. He was born on 17 February 1966. His father, Mr Hayri, known as Hayri the Painter and Hayri the Cowboy, had later moved to Istanbul with his family. Cengiz, who spent his childhood in Istanbul, decided to become a soldier and enrolled at Kuleli Military High School in 1980 as cadet number 4405. I got to know the deceased during recesses in the inner garden of Kuleli in this year, when our circuit mateship began, and my blood was immediately drawn to him. As far as I remember, Cengiz had two characteristics that stood out in Kuleli: His interest in football and his singing talent. In a short time, he became known throughout the school as a striker of the Kuleli football team, known for his head goals. Not to mention the fact that he was a firm Galatasaray fan. He was happy when GS won and sad when they were defeated. For some reason, Cimbom was always right and the blame was either on the referee or the opposing team. Apart from football, I still remember the songs he sang with his beautiful voice. He would reinforce the lyrics he memorised from Hey, the famous magazine of those days, with what he listened to on the radio and give us a beautiful recital of his own. He would sometimes mix up the lyrics, but we would pretend we didn't understand and listen to him with pleasure. Cengiz, who also loved to write poetry, even won a prize in an intra-school competition with the following poem and was awarded by the school administration. He always spoke of this with pride.

When he was in his last year at Kuleli, he decided to become a pilot, and a passion for being an aviator enveloped his whole being. When he passed his medical examinations, the only obstacle in front of him, jumping out of an aeroplane with a parachute and making his first solo flight in T-41 aeroplanes at Cumaovası Square after the student selection flights, seemed as easy as child's play to him. Our friendship based on music, sports and conversation continued at the Air Force Academy. We were in the same section. He was the tallest in our section. Despite his tall stature, he continued to be a good footballer. Here, too, he was always the constant centre-right of the school team. While playing football, he read the game well enough to know where his teammates would pass the ball, and he would run directly to that spot. He would score at least 2-3 goals in every match. Thus, those of us who watched him would leave the matches with a smile on our faces.

Graduating in 1988 as a lieutenant, Cengiz took his place among the trainees at the 2nd Main Jet Flight Training Centre Command/Çiğli, and was entitled to wear his pilot's badge on his left breast at the end of 1989. Afterwards, he voluntarily decided to continue as a military pilot in transport aircraft. His first transfer was to Kayseri. He started to fly in C-160 Transall aircraft. He served at the 12th Air Transport Main Base Command 221st Squadron Command for eight years until 1998. Then he took his place among the standardised instructors of the same base.

While serving in the Standardised Squadron Command, Cengiz participated in the military transport aircraft competition held at Toulouse Air Base in France in 2000. Air Pilot Captain Cengiz SOYKAPLAN flew as the aircraft commander of the Turkish Air Force team in the competition. The Turkish team, led by Cengiz, came first in the ETAM (European Tactical Airtransport Military) competition, in which NATO member countries participated, and made us all proud. If I am not mistaken, he was also honoured by the Commander of the Air Force for this achievement. In 2001, he was assigned to the Air Force Headquarters. He started to work at the Transport Plan Branch Directorate of the Logistics Department.

While serving at the Air Force Headquarters, Cengiz was eager to participate in student selection flights every summer. Headquarters work, as you know, was a bit boring for him. He liked writing poetry, but he did not like being at a desk at the headquarters and writing. He used to say that I come to my senses when I fly. From 2001 onwards, he used to spend every summer in Yalova. He enjoyed flying with the students. 

One of our friends remembers him with these beautiful words: "Dear Cengiz, God gave you so many talents that I didn't know whether to call you a pilot, a footballer or a singer. I was always jealous of your mastery of card games. And above all, your friendship... That was the most prominent one, you were a very good friend." Cengiz was indeed one of those people called the best in the world. "Remember when we were teaching together at the Air Force Academy test flight camp... When we were flying together after the students who were flying alone, we were flying right behind them as if we were going to put a wheel on the grass, and I can still hear you telling them 'hold, hold, hold the nose/come on, my coach'! ..."

Many years later, a traffic accident at the Air Force Academy's test flight camp, where he had gone to teach again, took Cengiz from us. At the age of 38, he left behind his Hülya, his children, and flew into eternity. At the funeral ceremony in Levent Mosque in Istanbul, the dialogue between his wife Hülya, who was constantly shedding tears, and his 4-year-old daughter Zeynep brought tears to the eyes of everyone who attended the ceremony that day. Taking Zeynep in her arms, her mother asked her daughter, "Where is my father going?" pointing to the sky with her hand, "He is going to the angels. He is flying to the sky, my child!" 

I commemorate my brother Cengiz, who was truly an Angel Human, with mercy, may your soul rest in peace.