The Bloody Uniforms of the Palace Regime – The Tormentor Soldiers-3
With its studies and reports, the "Advocates of Silenced Turkey (AST)", a human rights organization, reveals the human rights violations, ill-treatment and torture by the state's official institutions and persons that took place in Turkey during and after the 15th of July.
In the reports of “The Torturers in Turkey” published in November 2020 and recently, AST disclosed the names of 108 torturers, who were officially recorded with the statements of the accused and witnesses. Among these names are those in power, who tortured people who oppose them by using their political position and influence, generals, officers, and non-commissioned officers who tortured their comrades, police chiefs, police officers, guards, and even judges and prosecutors, who should have tried people fairly.
You can access the reports published by AST from the link below.
In this article, we will focus on some of the torturer officers mentioned in the report.
- Retired Colonel Ali Türkşen - Retired Naval Forces Personnel
- Retired Major Emre Onat - Retired Naval Forces Personnel
- NCO Bülent Kuru - Naval Forces Personnel
Ali Türkşen, one of the torturers during and after July 15, confessed on his own social media account that he tortured other soldiers. The torture and ill-treatment of Ali Türkşen were discussed in detail in the report prepared by AST.
Major Tahsin İşlekel and Petty Officer Metin Bircan filed a complaint at the Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court that they were tortured by retired colonel Ali Türkşen, retired Major Emre Onat and Petty Officer Bülent Kuru at the Beykoz SAT Command.
Marine Major Tahsin Islekel told the following in his statement that entered the court minutes:
“At around 07:00 in the morning, Colonel Turhan entered the room and said that ‘Guys, confess everything, otherwise a professional team waiting in the back will identify your weak spot and either break your nose or harm your family, and make you talk.’ I was stunned by what I heard and couldn't say anything. Then the team came in. In this team, there were retired colonel Ali Türkşen, retired Major Emre Onat and the non-commissioned officer Bülent Kuru. They took the order petty officer to the other room. Without asking anything, the team started hitting me. Then, Ali Türkşen punched me and stripped the insignia of my official clothes with his hands. Then they gave a blank sheet of paper. They said, 'We will come in 5 minutes, you will write who was there, if it is not full, we will disturb your family'. Ali Türkşen came back this time with a knife in his hand. Emre Onat also had a knife in his hand. Emre put the knife to my neck. Ali bled my hand with the knife. I tried to interfere with the knife in my neck. Next time Ali Türkşen came in with a curly-haired petty officer who I thought was retired. He called me from where I was sitting at the table. The petty officer tied me up by my hands and feet. With my hands and feet tied behind my back, they made me lie face down on the ground. They tied my arms and legs. My face was on the ground. On the morning of July 17, at 07:00, they tied our eyes and mouths. They took us to the guardhouse by beating our heads against the walls. They said they were waiting there for the prosecutor to arrive. We waited there for 2 hours. Then the police came. They opened my eyes. They took me to the Beykoz district police headquarters. There I was also beaten by the special operations police. 2-3 days later, I was transferred to the Çağlayan Courthouse and arrested…”
- Colonel Turhan Ecevit - SAT Commander of the time
- Colonel Erhan Kireçtepe - Deputy SAT commander of the time
- Captain Levent Bahadır - Naval Forces Personnel
- Captain Erdal Çerçi - Naval Forces Personnel
- First Lieutenant Uğur Günaslan - Naval Forces Personnel
- NCO Burak Çelik - Naval Forces Personnel
One of the facts that emerged during the July 15 period was that the defendants in the Ergenekon and Balyoz cases played a role in luring innocent people into the trap in the so-called coup attempt of July 15. Turhan Ecevit and Ercan Kireçtepe were among these names. Turhan Ecevit and Ercan Kireçtepe were convicted in the Poyrazköy Case and went to prison.
At the hearing on January 7, 2020, SAT Commando Petty Officer Murat Fırat talked about the inhuman treatment he received after being detained. It was recorded in the court minutes that the defendants in cases such as Ergenekon and Balyoz cases personally participated in the tortures during and after July 15. In his statement Murat Fırat said: “After receiving a report of assault from the hospital, we were taken to the Beykoz District Police Department. Even though my hands were cuffed behind my back, they tortured me by laying them on the ground. Everyone who walked in was swearing, kicking, stomping on me, spitting, drooling and shouting. While these were happening, some were recording their tortures with their mobile phones. These images were shown to Mustafa Avşar, who were brought to the SAT unit after me There, he was threatened by Levent Bahadir that if he did not testify as he was asked, that would be the end of him as well. My nose and ribs were broken as a result of the tortures done to me. Both of my eardrums burst. I had a 1-inch cleft in my chin. Because of the special request of the SAT commander Admiral Turhan Ecevit, the police also tortured and insulted me. Among those who tortured me in the SAT unit were Captain Erdal Cerci, First Lieutenant Ugur Gunaslar and NCO Burak Celik.”
The constitution of the Republic of Turkey states that individuals cannot be tortured or ill-treated, and there is no statute of limitations for torture as per Article 94 of the Turkish Penal Code.
With the "EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime" decision adopted by the European Council in December 2020, preventive measures have been taken against EU member or non-EU states, non-state actors and EU citizens or non-EU citizens who torture, inhuman and ill-treat.
In conclusion, torture is a crime against humanity and there is no statute of limitations. Persons who torture, use ill-treatment, give orders, and allow it to be done, will be held accountable before the law.
Fatih Ayhan Acar
Reference: Advocates of Silenced Turkey – Report of Torturers in Turkey November 2020
