Lieutenant Ercan Baydoğan broke his silence after 40 years

The book Lieutenants, published by the Kırmızı Kedi Publishing House and set to take its place in all bookstores tomorrow, by journalist Ersin Eroğlu, includes the experiences of the Lieutenants, what happened at the Tuzla Infantry School, and what happened to the dismissed lieutenants.

The most interesting event in the book is the experiences of Lieutenant Ercan Baydoğan, who was dismissed from Tuzla Infantry School 40 years ago. Baydoğan, who told his story for the first time, was one of the four dismissed lieutenants.

The Baydoğan section in the book was included with the following expressions:

I wanted to reach out to Ercan Baydoğan and hear from him what happened in Tuzla. Baydoğan, who has never been separated from that day to this with his circuits, started to tell a long story: “The date was March 18, 1985. Four lieutenants and a civilian friend were walking on the Kartal coast on Sunday. The weather was much hotter than seasonal norms. One of the friends said, ‘It would be nice if we had something to drink.’ We all agreed, ‘Okay, that would be nice.’ The civilian friend ran a cafeteria right across from the Infantry School. Sometimes we would go and have things made that were not available at school. Things like sausage and eggs, menemen. We met from there. He was a few years older than us and we had become close over time. When he said, ‘I know a place, we can go there tonight,’ we said, ‘Okay.’ In the evening, 5 of us went and had a beer each. One of our friends had an extra double rakı. We asked for the bill, and the bill came for 12 thousand liras. It was even more than astronomical values ​​for that period. I have observed throughout my life that a beer is equivalent to a pack of cigarettes. Now If a pack of cigarettes was 70-100, a beer was the same. In those days, a pack of cigarettes was 10 lira.

We would also buy a beer from the supermarket for 10 lira. Let’s say 5 beers are 50 lira and a double raki is 20 lira, that makes 70 lira. Since it was a restaurant-casino, 5 times it would be 350 lira and 10 times it would be 700 lira.” Ercan Baydoğan and his entourage were surprised when they saw the bill and asked for it to be corrected. Baydoğan explains: “They corrected it and made it 8,500 lira. We said, ‘That’s too much again.’ The waiter left and after a while another one came. Evaluating our attire and appearance, he said, ‘You’re lieutenants from the Infantry School, aren’t you?’ We said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘The bill doesn’t matter, it’s crowded here right now, one of you will come tomorrow, we’ll talk and sort it out.’ We went out; our civilian friend had a minibus; we had come with him; we walked towards him. We got on the minibus and saw about 20 waiters running with pickaxe handles and sticks in their hands, the minibus wouldn't start. First they ran over the minibus and then us. They took all the money in our pockets. Just think, since there were no credit cards at that time, the money we had was always in our pockets. After the beating, the minibus started. We went to the police first, then to the central command. We got a report of the beating, and the next day there was a criminal court.

They offered us a bag full of money to drop the lawsuit. We did not accept. They also offered us a new minibus. Before the trial, the 1st Army Commander of the time was called and the Central Commander took him there. We were very surprised when he said, “It turned out very well.” He added, “I could not close that place. There is drug dealing, womanizing and all kinds of filth there. Now I have an excuse. I will close it.” As our previous surprise passed, we were surprised at why the most competent person in Istanbul at the time could not do this.” After the trial, the lieutenants returned to the school. At the door, the lieutenants were told, “The commander on duty is waiting for you.” Ercan Baydoğan recounts the moments he encountered Muzaffer Tekin: “I had not seen Muzaffer Tekin up close until that moment. Muzaffer Tekin was already a legend at that age. He was described as a hero who lived hundreds of years ago. I had asked his students and subordinates about him. He evoked an image beyond being a soldier and a human being. He was a Cyprus veteran and a gold medal-winning officer. He would go to his unit at 06:00 in the morning before the students woke up and go home in the evening after the students went to bed. There were rumors that he donated a large portion of his salary to the TSK Strengthening Foundation. We had great respect for him and when we met we tried to show it off better than it should be. 'Tell me, how did it happen?' he said.

We explained, he probably knew everything and had it explained to him to fill in the gaps. It was evening and it was study time. He said, “Don’t attend the study, go to bed.” We went to the wards and went to bed. It was around 04:00 at night, a soldier came and woke him up: “The Regiment Commander is calling you.” Baydoğan speaks: “We four friends learned what happened that night from the regiment commander. After the study, we gathered, went to the restaurant in groups, and then the events started with an excuse. There was no place that we were not broken or spilled. This is called social psychology. Things that happen from time to time all over the world. You will ask four lieutenants for 12 thousand liras for the 350-700 lira bill, and then you will beat them to death. We couldn’t figure out some things for years.

There is no social media, only brave and investigative journalists. Since the flow of information was not immediate, we were able to understand some things years later. The only rumor in those days was that the owner was Necdet Üruğ's retired non-commissioned officer and that he called him directly and said, 'The lieutenants are burning down Tuzla, come and help' and that Chief of General Staff Necdet Üruğ took the matter into his own hands.

In the following years, we learn that Necdet Üruğ was a partner there and the other person was his safe. This confirms the 1st Army Commander's statement that 'I couldn't close that place'. They immediately stopped the courses and sent a prosecutor colonel. The man took the statements of 400 lieutenants 3-4 times without getting tired or lazy. Everyone on duty that night, the patrols. The friends' statements are the same: 'I was sleeping at that time, I didn't go, I didn't see them.' Then they came with offers. There is a loss of 250 million, come accept it, let's deduct it from your salaries. No matter how many years it takes... Nobody accepted. The prosecutor couldn't get the result he wanted from the investigations. At that time, it was said that a tower guard gave a statement saying only 'The lieutenants left at this time, they came back at this time.'

If Necdet Üruğ had not been involved, Muzaffer Tekin would have closed the case by giving a full night roll call and saying, 'The lieutenants did not leave school.' When the investigation did not go as they wanted, they lined up 400 people in the long corridors of Selimiye Barracks and asked the waiters to identify them. The Colonel Prosecutor had left and a Captain Prosecutor had come in his place. The Captain made the speech before the identification right in front of me: 'Among these lieutenants, there are those who were in the hospital that day, some who were on a change of air, some who were married but at home. If you remove the wrong person, it will be very bad for you,' he said. They were able to remove 5-6 people. Later, those people, us 4 lieutenants and Muzaffer Tekin, were subjected to a trial that lasted for years. After Selimiye, they shortened the course, had a draw, and assignments were made.

They sent all of the gendarmes to Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia. These events affected not only us, but the entire 1984 period. The commanders in the continents approached all of my periods with prejudice and tortured them. However, they proved themselves and proved that the 1984 period was a very different and perfect period.” The lieutenants in the primary schools were distributed. The majority were sent to the border. Ercan Baydoğan's place of duty was Uludere, Hakkari. Ercan Baydoğan, who was called by the regiment commander in the second month of his duty in Hakkari, received the news of his retirement with a record at the Supreme Military Council. After being discharged from the Turkish Armed Forces, Baydoğan returned to his hometown of Malatya and went into business. His mother was very upset and fought cancer for years. Even though years passed, she would say, "I know you will come back." He lost his mother in 2004. In 2008, he received a letter. The letter was from the Prime Minister of the time, Demirel. His mother wrote a letter to Demirel, and when Demirel was Prime Minister, he said, "Ms. Emine, since the current Constitution and laws do not allow it, your son has no chance of being reinstated." When Baydoğan asked his father, he said, "His mother wrote letters to every Prime Minister, every President and every Chief of General Staff." Baydoğan first He opened a grocery store, then a stationery store. He taught English in Ankara for a while.

He lived in Ankara and the US. When the way was opened for the Supreme Military Council (YAS) decisions to be taken to court, he also applied. He gained his retirement rights. Now he continues to meet with his divisions. Baydoğan, who was also a division mate of Tevfik Algan, the Chief of Staff of the Land Forces, says: “I hadn’t seen him for years. He was the Peace Force Commander during a Cyprus trip of our division. We got together for a dinner. I was very happy that he recognized me, was informed about the incident and received extensive information. I was sure he would put him high, I was right. He wrote his name in Turkish history in golden letters. It is not easy to become a lieutenant. No one should compare him to any university.”

Source: News Center