The king is naked: Perfect atrocity

Eyüp Can eyüp.can@radikal.com.tr

We have discussed and are heatedly discussing the verdicts of civil courts from Ergenekon to Balyoz (Sledgehammer) cases and most recently in the corruption operation against the government.

It’s good that we are doing this, because civil justice is falling apart…

Well, what about military courts?

How about Uludere, which the military court ruled for non-prosecution the other day?

Uludere, where 34 civilians, most of them minors, were shot from the air by military jets about two years ago…

All right, calls for revenge should not be made… New pain should not be generated from existing pain…
But, can a state be this cruel, this brutal to its citizens?

Not because it hit them; it is because, after hitting them, for this or that reason, it adopted impassiveness.

Because it has put salt and pepper on wounds, this state, with its military and civil justice, has once more proved that it is merciless and unjust…

I am repeating, not because of the bombing, but because of their impassiveness; those who have made this decision and reached this verdict will be judged again, sooner or later…
Both in this world and also in the other…

Both in the apocalyptic conscience and before law…

Since this judgment, a judgment that has been tuned for from the beginning to cover up will sooner or later be left without cover.

Anybody who has a tiny bit of conscience will shout, “The king is naked.”

Well, let’s say these jets actually never thought there would be civilians in that area, this never ever occurred to them, and they accidentally hit 34 people…

The military court is explaining step-by-step how that grave decision was made from top to bottom with a serious hierarchy…

Hour by hour…

Minute by minute…

You have goose bumps while reading it…

Leave aside all the stages passed until the button was pushed…

We understand the matter has been taken to Chief of General Staff Necdet Özel while he was at the National Security Council (MGK) meeting…

The Chief of General Staff watched the most up-to-date footage in his office from a map prepared for him…

And the decision to strike from the air was made by operating all mechanisms.
In other words, it does not seem to be intentional.

Well, what about fault?

Not even that? If you unintentionally cause a person to die in a traffic accident and even if you have no fault, such a decision would not be reached…

But the army, even if it were accidental, has killed 34 of its citizens…

The government, from the beginning, instead of healing the pain, is activating its most brutal etatist defense reflexes…

Even though the military court has determined that the king is naked, it was able to pass a verdict of non-prosecution, as if a flawless operation has been conducted, almost insulting human wisdom and human conscience…

However, despite its brutality and impassiveness, the judiciary, both military and civilian, is yelling the king is naked…

Eyüp Can is a columnist for daily Radikal in which this piece was published on Jan 8. It was translated into English by the Daily News staff.