Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Hazing Is Rife In Turkey's Army

Ugur Kantar spent 80 days in a coma before dying from wounds inflicted by his torturers. (Photo courtesy of the author)

Turkish Troops Face Torture and Suicide in NATO's Second-Largest Army -- The Atlantic

More Turkish soldiers have perished from suicide and abuse than from combat in the last decade, but the EU aspirant has done little to stem the crisis.

ISTANBUL -- The night private Ugur Kantar died in an Ankara military hospital, his father Aydin Kantar knew all too well who his son's killers were.

He also knew that he would never see them in jail, because the men who had ordered Ugur's torture - which lasted for three days and ended with Ugur in a coma, abandoned and handcuffed to a chair in the blinding Mediterranean sun - were high ranking military officers and effectively above the law.

Two years after his son's death, Aydin says the officers suspected in the incident are still no closer to facing trial, a bitter example of the thousands of unsettled rights abuses in NATO's second-largest army.

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My Comment: Such behavior is inexcusable .... but with no leadership from Turkey's politicians and military brass .... reform is just a distant goal.

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