Turkish "Military Discipline"

The event described below happened at a Turkish Army encampment in SE Turkey on August 17, 2009. The Turkish newspaper “Taraf” (“Take A Stand”) was the first one to publish an account that was also picked up by certain Greek national security blogging sites two days ago. “Today’s Zaman” (another Turkish newspaper) published an account in English today, Aug. 27, 2009. Four (4) Turkish soldiers were killed following an explosion of a hand grenade. It turns out that one of these soldiers was found asleep at his guard post during a night inspection by a marauding Turkish NCO (this is a grave offense under Turkish military discipline parameters). The NCO took a live hand grenade from the soldier and the flash suppressor from the assault rifle of another sleeping soldier and delivered the items to the commanding (first or second) lieutenant. The Lt.. called the first offending soldier, pulled the safety pin from the grenade, handed the soldier the live grenade as “punishment,” and ordered him to return to his post and hold the grenade tightly (this prevents a spring-loaded firing pin from detonating a military grenade). The soldier pleaded with the Lt. for the grenade’s safety pin but to no avail. According to the “Taraf” account the soldier started wandering within the military camp seeking a replacement safety pin from his fellow soldiers. Given the summer heat in SE Turkey and the soldier’s psychological state, the grenade slipped from his fingers and detonated causing the death of four (4) Turkish soldiers. The Turkish military command initially reported these deaths as caused by an accidental grenade detonation “during the course of a military patrol against Kurdish PKK terrorists.”

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

1. This was a totally unnecessary tragedy. Four (4) young people were needlessly killed. The soldier with the live grenade was about to be discharged from his national military service in about 70 days. This did not make an impression on his commanding officer.
2. In other armies, walking around in a military camp with an armed and live grenade (no safety pin) is not “punishment.” It is an inherently dangerous condition that puts military personnel and equipment in jeopardy. What was the Turkish Army Lt. thinking at the time?
3. Unlike other armies, the Turkish soldier demonstrated blind obedience to a clearly unsafe and potentially unlawful order (“walk around while carrying an armed live grenade on your person”).
4. Some people have already commented that this Turkish soldier did not show enough initiative to safely toss the grenade following his encounter with the Turkish Army Lt. However, this Turkish soldier would clearly have been charged with a court martial offense for “causing an unnecessary explosion” while his Lt. and NCO superiors could have gone around saying “what grenade?”

Labros E. Pilalis

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-185257-privates-died-after-lieutenant-punished-one-for-sleeping-on-duty.html

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