Pilot Candidate Air Lieutenant, Martyr Gendarmerie First Lieutenant Ercan Şahin How Did My Brother Become a Martyr?

Born on 5 August 1966 in Görele, Giresun, Ercan Şahin grew up as an Istanbul child after his family moved to Istanbul. He completed primary school and secondary education in Bahçelievler district. He had his mind set on becoming a pilot. After successfully completing the written exam, interview and medical examination processes of the Air Force Academy, where he knocked on the door in the summer of 1984 with the dream of wearing the blue uniform and flying in the sky, the last stage that could prevent him from getting the blue uniform was the Trial Flight Camp (TFC). What was expected of him was that he would be entitled to fly alone in T-41 aircraft after a challenging training.

He was good with cars, but the aeroplane was something else. As he flew with his flight instructor at Cumaovası Square, in the area where the current Adnan Menderes Airport is located, he started to say that flying was for me. He persevered, learnt well and finally took off on his own. He was now alone in the T-41, alone. That day he was flying his first solo flight. He enjoyed flying alone very much. He passed many qualifications without difficulty and finally succeeded. This solo flight made him realise that he really wanted to be an aviator, a pilot. Without hesitation, he enrolled in school. Anyway, if he studied here, he would not be separated from his family. He could go 'home' to his family every weekend, so he could continue his schooling without ever being separated from his beloved family.

With these thoughts in mind, he completed his military education. On 1 October 1984, when he took his first oath of military service at the Air Force Academy together with his other friends, he became an Air Cadet. He entered the Air Force Academy with the dream of becoming a pilot, and he wanted to get a good education and learn everything about aeroplanes very well. Therefore, he preferred to study in the aircraft department.

Ercan was a tall, hairy young man. He was a fit Air Cadet. Realising this, the Company Commander entrusted him with the responsibility of carrying the pennant of the company. Those who are or have been in the military know. Troop pennants are not entrusted to everyone. Not only does one have to be tall, but one is also expected to be an exemplary person who is loved and respected among his friends. Ercan was just such a type. He took the pennant entrusted to him and carried it for four years.

On 30 August 1988, he graduated from the school with the joy and pride of being an Air Lieutenant with his friends of the 1988 class. He proudly saluted his family attending the ceremony: "Now the next step is to become a pilot. I'm going to Çiğli, I'll work hard, and I'm waiting for you all at the badge pinning ceremony there!"

He travelled to Izmir with his friends. Firstly, he attended pilotage preparation courses at the Air Technical Schools Command in Gaziemir. In his spare time, he tried to improve his English. When it was Ercan's turn to join the Lieutenants' group for pilot training, he went to Çiğli and focused on fulfilling what was required of him and what was expected of him during the training process. In the beginning, everything was going very well. Since he had already made 'encouragement flights' with T-41 aircraft at the Air Force Academy, his enthusiasm for flying had increased even more. Now, in order to become a pilot, it would be enough for him to make a little effort and study the training books. The rest would come by itself...

Unfortunately, this plan did not work for Ercan. In fact, he seemed to have no problem flying the aircraft, but every time he took to the air, his stomach would cramp. Either he was squeezing himself too much or he was unable to fly the aeroplane because he was nauseous. More precisely, he could not give himself to flying. I guess this is not going to work, he said. No matter how hard he pushed himself, he started to think that it couldn't happen. He poisoned life with these thoughts. He could not sleep at night. The fear of feeling nauseous in the air prevented him from studying on the ground. He was bored inside. He felt like he was trapped in a prison. Every morning he woke up as if he had never slept. His feet were going backwards to the squadron where he received his flight training. The love of being a pilot was almost gone. He found himself thinking that this job was not for me. Finally, he realised it wasn't going to happen. He prepared his petition. "I do not want to be a pilot, I voluntarily leave the training." He submitted his petition to the Pilot Candidate Battalion Commander. The commander did not want to accept it at first. He had him meet with the flight medics. He even asked for help from a psychologist, but Ercan had made up his mind. He did not want to be a pilot. He had convinced himself of this. A frustration had come over him.

The Battalion Commander wanted to win Ercan, to turn him back from this decision. He believed that he could succeed. He also felt the need to explain to him a decision taken that year: "Ercan, have you thought this through, son? Look, this year a protocol was signed between the Air Force and the Gendarmerie General Command. The Air Force is transferring air lieutenants who voluntarily leave the service directly to the Gendarmerie General Command. Look, there's no going back, no joking about it. You know that from now on you will have to continue your life as a Gendarmerie officer, don't you?" Ercan was in no condition to listen to or understand his commander. He wanted to leave his pilot training as soon as possible and get away from Çiğli, thinking that he would breathe a sigh of relief.

Ercan Lieutenant, who left Çiğli as if he was running away to get rid of his boredom, was first of all a very good soldier. He had no problem with military service. At that time, the practice of separation to the Gendarmerie was supposedly a precautionary measure introduced to prevent aviator pilot candidates from seeing the difficulty of flight training and giving up immediately (this practice was later abolished). For air lieutenants who had studied for years as Air Cadets, being separated from flying, then being forced to become a member of the Gendarmerie General Command, which they had never known, and serving as a gendarmerie lieutenant or gendarmerie officer while being an air lieutenant was really a difficult order to accept. 

This order, which affected Ercan's future in one way or another, was also very clear: "Those who voluntarily petition to leave flying will be sent to the Gendarmerie General Command and will become Gendarmerie Officers!" Air Lieutenant Ercan Şahin did exactly what this order described, he voluntarily submitted a petition to leave the flight. Only one petition had forced him to say goodbye to the blue uniform.

In the end, Ercan had to accept to become a Gendarmerie Officer. He had no other choice anyway. He could not swallow his pride to desert and leave his country like some of his friends did. He said, "If it is my fate, I will suffer. He said that if that was the order, he would do what was necessary. He decided to do whatever was necessary to be a good Gendarmerie officer in his next life. Maybe storms were raging in his inner world at that time. His experiences were not easy. He could not become a pilot and he was forced to leave his aviator friends. He was going to join the Gendarmerie Lieutenants with whom he had not studied before. It was going to be difficult, but there didn't seem to be much to do. Instead of fighting with his fate, he preferred to accept his fate. 

The years passed quickly. He graduated from the Gendarmerie Class School and became a good Gendarmerie Officer. He was assigned to Şırnak. He would serve as a Company Commander in the Silopi district and rural areas of Şırnak within the scope of internal security operations. From time to time, he would participate in search and combing activities in the field. One July morning, on 25 July 1994, Battalion Commander Major Abdülkadir Kılavuz decided to go to Kösrelli village, taking First Lieutenant Ercan Şahin with him. In the morning, a gendarmerie unit returning from an operation had captured two terrorists alive. During the interrogation, one of the terrorists decided to confess. According to this confessing terrorist, the PKK had a secret armoury in a cave near Kösrelli village. The Battalion Commander decided that an operation was needed there after the terrorist showed him the armoury. The teams assigned for this purpose moved to the area in Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) vehicles. Ercan Şahin, the Battalion Commander and four soldiers were in the front vehicle. The vehicles were travelling towards Kösrelli village on a rough road, keeping a distance between each other. 

On the Kösrelli road, while the APCs were travelling, the front vehicle, in which Ercan was also in, stepped on a mine, which had apparently been laid on the road by PKK terrorists, while passing. When he stepped on it, the mine exploded and the vehicle was blown up. A total of 5 soldiers, including the Battalion Commander and Ercan Şahin, were martyred on the spot. One soldier, who was seriously wounded, was martyred on 30 July. The names of our martyrs who breathed their last breath that day with the mine on that road were as follows:

1- Martyr Major ABDULKADİR KILAVUZ (Amasya/Gümüşhacıköy)

2- Martyr First Lieutenant ERCAN ŞAHİN (Giresun/Görele)

3- Martyr Private DAVUT SEMİZOĞLU (Samsun/Terme)

4- Martyr Private ENGIN UYGAR (Ağrı)

5- Martyr Private TEMEL ERDOĞMUŞ (Ordu/Aybastı)

6- Martyr Private YILMAZ ÖZGÜL (Aksaray/Ortaköy) (martyred on 30 July 1994)

Pilot candidate Ercan Şahin, who joined the ranks of the Turkish Armed Forces as an aviation lieutenant on the Köstelli road, was martyred as a Gendarmerie First Lieutenant together with his comrades in arms. Martyr First Lieutenant Ercan Şahin (1988-HV-51) was buried in his eternal resting place in Istanbul Edirnekapı Martyrdom after the ceremony. May his soul rest in peace.

In order to keep his cherished memory alive, the name of a military outpost under the 172nd Armoured Brigade Command was later changed to "Martyr First Lieutenant Ercan Şahin Outpost".