Turkish conscripts forced to assemble in miserable conditions

ISTANBUL

DHA photos

Video footage uploaded to a social media website by an unidentified Turkish soldier has showed the apparently appalling conditions under which conscripts were forced to assemble prior to shipping out to their respective units, daily Radikal reported yesterday.
 
Conscript assembly centers became a topic of discussion after 10 Turkish soldiers were killed and 70 were injured in a rocket attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on a military convoy on Sept. 18. Soldiers who fell victim to the ambush were first gathered by the army at an assembly center and were shipped 200 at a time in unarmored civilian buses.
 
The recent footage uploaded on social media showed the condition in one of the assembly centers in an unknown location, where dozens of conscripts were seen crammed into a hall, waiting for their departures. An inadequate number of beds were present in the hall, where some soldiers in civilian clothes were seen to be sleeping on, while many others, due to lack of bedding, had to rest or sleep on the concrete floor.
 
A pile of garbage in the middle of the hall showed the lack of hygiene in the assembly center, as the soldier recording the footage was heard saying, "This place is like a refugee camp," according to Radikal.
 
The soldier who made the recording was also heard saying he wanted the conditions they were being subjected to be known by everyone.