Turkey has been witnessing a growing debate over the actions of Air Forces Commander Gen. Aydoğan Babaoğlu

- 09 / 10 / 2008 08:47

Fatma Disli

Turkey has been witnessing a growing debate over the actions of Air Forces Commander Gen. Aydoğan Babaoğlu, who continued to play golf at a hotel in Antalya following the killing of 17 Turkish soldiers at the Aktütün military outpost in eastern Turkey on Oct. 3.

In response to initial criticisms, Babaoğlu adopted an indifferent attitude, asking, “Should I have gone to Aktütün, then, to placate the people who have criticized me?”

He was also defended by the General Staff in a statement on Wednesday that said the general only received information about the attack on the evening of Oct. 4. Because the General Staff had already released information about the attack to the public on the morning of Oct. 4, the statement received even more criticism from the media, which called the statement implausible, and criticisms have begun to turn into calls for Babaoğlu’s resignation.

Hürriyet’s Ahmet Hakan finds criticisms of Babaoğlu very appropriate, saying that a commander who does not bother to stop playing golf while his soldiers are being killed would be criticized in any part of the world.

“The commander is already aware of the awful situation, one in which he cannot do or say anything that will save himself. While trying to defend himself, he makes even bigger blunders, saying, ‘Should I have gone to Aktütün?’” Hakan writes.

Commenting on the General Staff’s response, he says the statement made the situation even worse. “Can you imagine? While everybody, at school, in factories and on the streets, learned about what had happened at 9 a.m. on Saturday, the commander who heads the air forces learns about the attack 10 hours later. What can one say in such a situation?

 If he continued playing golf although he knew about the attack, this would be considered shameful. If he continued to play without knowing about the attack, this would be ignorance. And ignorance is a more serious shortcoming than shame for a commander,” Hakan contends.

Vatan’s Güngör Mengi increases his criticism of Babaoğlu and urges him to hand in his resignation to protect both his dignity and that of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). “It is unthinkable for a commander to have no information about a terrorist attack in which 17 soldiers were killed for 24 hours.”

On the General Staff’s statement, which also denounced criticisms of Babaoğlu as aimed at undermining the TSK, Mengi says it is not reasonable to question the intentions of people who criticize Babaoğlu. “I can imagine how Babaoğlu feels about his bad luck, but he has to make a sacrifice by resigning. He should not make the TSK carry the burden of his fault; he should resign to protect the TSK,” Mengi states.

Star’s Şamil Tayyar calls on Gen. Babaoğlu to apologize to the nation instead of trying to cover up his mistake. “Come on and admit your mistake. Being able to apologize is a virtue. You make more blunders while trying to cover up your faults,” writes Tayyar.

Radikal’s İsmet Berkan concludes that if, according to the General Staff’s statement, things can proceed in the air forces without Gen. Babaoğlu, this means Turkey does not need an air forces commander. “If things that need to be done can continue in his absence, if war planes take off and hit targets across the border without his notice and then return back to the country safe and sound, this unfortunately means that Turkey does not need an air forces commander,” Berkan says, implicitly calling on Babaoğlu to resign.