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Several dozen Turkish officers who had taken refuge in the West. “We are not terrorists”

(B2) They are captains, commanders, lieutenant-colonels, colonels… sometimes of lower rank. All officers (or NCOs) graduates, trained, experienced. A few months ago, they proudly served their country, wearing the Turkish uniform in the corridors and commands of NATO, at headquarters or at Shape for those in Belgium. Since the coup d'etat in July - and especially since the end of September - they have been proscribed, considered as parities, renegades by their own country and have gone into semi-clandestineness. After having remained very discreet, they testify today, under the seal of anonymity. B2 met some of them (along with our colleagues from RTL), in an apartment in the Brussels suburbs. A key testimony...

A hundred soldiers proscribed in Belgium

The purge against the military has been massive. In Belgium alone, there would be almost a hundred officers or non-commissioned officers to be the object of Ankara's opprobrium. According to figures communicated by these officers, 84 out of the 138 serving in NATO structures in Belgium (at SHAPE in Mons or at headquarters in Brussels) are concerned. What they are reproached for: they do not know it precisely, apart from having faithfully served the ideal of the Turkish nation. On September 27, exactly, everything changed. A list of several officers was compiled and circulated with more than 200 names. Ankara asked those concerned to return immediately to the country, within three days, leaving everything behind. Without any explanation. Some hesitated...

“When I saw my name on the list, I didn't know why. I am military, not political. If there are facts that I am accused of, they must notify me, inform me of the charges against me, in accordance with our constitutional rights, so that I can defend myself. They didn't say anything, just asking to come back to Türkiye. They accuse us of having been members or of supporting the terrorist movements and of the Gülen movement, there was no court decision in any case. »

Arrest and torture for returned officers

Soon after, another list circulated, with 46 more names added. " It is not known why these names were added ". Some complied. They took it badly, as soon as they arrived at the airport where, shortly after, they were arrested, dragged to prison, questioned vehemently. Ill-treatment and even torture were used. The soldiers received several concordant testimonies. Sometimes it is the woman who undergoes ill-treatment or torture”. Everything is recorded. “The video is shown to the husband to crack him up. " Some soldiers (between 4 to 6) would be dead. In fact, they died from torture inflicted in prison.” What increase the reluctance of the first minute. 

Forced to seek asylum

The soldiers decided to stay in Belgium and, ultimately, to seek asylum. A request to which they had to resolve. It was not their first choice. " We didn't want to ask for asylum at first. But we were advised to do it to stay in Belgium ". The officers do not, however, hear not stay long in Belgium”. They wish “only to be able to live in safety. When our country is secure, we want to return to our country immediately. This is where they have their ties, their family, their future.

Intra-military solidarity

The Turkish government has cut off their food: salaries, allowances and even healthcare reimbursements. In the meantime, they have left their official apartment and opted for cheaper accommodation, keeping away from the Turkish community in Brussels, whose denunciations they fear because they have largely been acquired by the Erdogan government. They live, in part, thanks to the solidarity of the soldiers of the other NATO countries who provide them with material aid but above all moral comfort.

The infamy of being considered a terrorist

For these soldiers, trained, fed within the Turkish state, to be suddenly treated and considered a terrorist is the most infamous. " They called us terrorists repeats one of them, who can't get over it. " All my life I have fought against terrorism. I was praised for it he says. " One day you are terrorists. But, if the next day you support Erdogan, you become a hero »

All western trained

Everyone wonders about the reasons for such a broad purge which affects one of the pillars of the Turkish state, a guarantor in a certain way of modernity and democracy. " We sometimes met for the first time, we looked for the common point. We realized that we all have a western education often in the United States or at the NATO defense college in Rome. " We are also seculars of the laity. This goes against the religious orientation given by Erdogan to Turkish power. " We do not share Erdogan's vision. We never made it public. We are soldiers. We keep it very discreet »

A turning point in Turkey's Euro-Atlantic anchorage?

For these officers, behind these purges, there is in fact another reality: Turkey's desire for geostrategic change: Erdogan's vision for Turkey is " to make a turn ", to detach Turkey " of the West, of NATO and Europe, of the United States to make it evolve towards the East, towards an alliance with Russia, towards the organization of Shanghai Five (ascent around Russia and China with the ex-USSR republics of Central Asia) rather than to NATO" they point out. These officers are convinced that they are only a tip of the iceberg. " The armed forces are an important force for the Turkish republic. If you change, you change the soul of the Turkish Republic »

A good majority of the Turkish workforce at NATO victim of the purge

Military personnel established abroad are a target of choice, in general senior officers. In all the countries where there are NATO bases: in the Netherlands (in Brunssum), in Italy (in Naples), in the United States (in Norfolk), we find an identical scenario.

According to a detailed report established by our interlocutors, 232 of the 400 Turkish officers or non-commissioned officers present in a NATO structure were victims of the purge, that is to say nearly two thirds of the workforce.

A picture is worth a thousand words: Turkish representation at NATO headquarters: decimated

Nearly two-thirds of the personnel deployed in NATO concerned

Among the 232 officers or non-commissioned officers appearing on the "black list" victims of the purge, the majority are in Belgium (84) and Germany (45). The others are in all the countries of the Alliance starting with the United States (28) and Italy (28), the Netherlands (17) and the United Kingdom (13), finally Spain (10), Norway (4) and Austria (3).

To these must be added 165 military attachés or assistants present in the various embassies and military structures (out of the 264 in post) who have been asked to return to the country. According to our information – not officially confirmed but not denied either – France would be affected by this eviction of the military attachés.

In total, nearly 400 soldiers out of the 664 posted abroad are concerned. That is two thirds of the workforce. It's not skimming, it's a real liquidation of a certain capital of experience.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

One thought on “Several dozen Turkish officers who had taken refuge in the West. “We are not terrorists”"

  • Richet-Yves

    What do the high authorities of NATO intend to do towards the Turkish government? Will they have the courage to officially denounce the abuses observed? To ask the question is already to answer it. Because in the name of a certain pragmatism of geopolitics, it is preferable to close our eyes. Too many interests of all kinds are at stake. Turkey serves as a base for the coalition against ISIS. Westerners need it. Has NATO exposed the troubled policy orchestrated by Turkey in Syria? No, and for good reason, you have to spare “the goat and the cabbage”. For low political reasons – some will say “reason of state” – it is to be feared that these soldiers will be sacrificed in the name of the general interest…

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