Hulusi Akar, Chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly’s National Defense Committee and AKP Member of Parliament for Kayseri, expressed support for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s statement that “Israel could attack Turkey” during an event he attended.
Hulusi Akar, who was Chief of the General Staff during the July 15 coup attempt and was released on the morning of July 16 after being taken hostage by the coup plotters, said, “The occupation of Denmark during World War II lasted 6 hours—just 6 hours. So this is no joke. ’Is Israel a threat to us or not? It is a threat—a massive threat. Would a great nation like Turkey leave the lives of 85 million citizens to chance?””.
Strong Reaction to Akar
Selçuk Özdağ, the Saadet Party’s parliamentary group leader and a member of parliament from Muğla representing the Future Party, reacted to Hulusi Akar’s remarks.
“In the old Turkey, for an officer to become a staff officer, every aspect of his qualifications—from A to Z—was evaluated, including his knowledge, skills, ability to make decisions under difficult conditions, analytical thinking skills, public speaking ability, and intellectual background, and only then was he admitted to take the exams,” said Özdağ, who listed his criticisms as follows:
“It’s impossible to understand how this ”illustrious’ (!) individual—who can’t explain any topic without rambling on endlessly, who swallows his words, and who requires a decoder just to understand what he’s saying—became a staff officer.”
Selçuk Özdağ, who referred to Hulusi Akar as “a man for all seasons” without naming him, explained his reasoning as follows:
“This person, who has a knack for being the key figure of every era, was the private secretary to the Chief of the General Staff during the February 28 period—and they say he was quite the authoritarian, mashallah, during those days when pressure was being exerted on religious circles! He must have reaped the benefits of being a man for every era, as he climbed the career ladder step by step and rose to every position. An officer in the September 12 military coup, the autocratic ”hunter of the devout” during the February 28 era, a bystander during the July 15 coup attempt, and now the gossip-monger among young lieutenants—this gentleman adapts to the spirit of the times, speaking like an imam-hatip, signaling to those in high places (!) After all, just as some imams speak like politicians, military officers, judges, journalists, academics, and economists, these individuals also often convey messages like imams.”
Akar’s remarks: “The occupation of Denmark during World War II lasted six hours. ”This is no joke; Israel poses a massive threat to us. Can the lives of 85 million people in the great Republic of Turkey really be left to chance?“ In response to these remarks, he said, ”The Turkish nation, which granted this person the authority to serve as commander-in-chief during wartime, has truly weathered a major crisis. Can you imagine this person commanding the Turkish army in wartime?”.
Selçuk Özdağ of the Future Party, comparing Akar to those who had held that position before him, said, “Who is sitting in the offices once occupied by people like Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Marshal Fevzi Çakmak? Oh, my beautiful, ownerless country.”.