CHP leader Özel: When the time comes, we will hold a ceremony for those dismissed lieutenants.

In the group meeting of his party, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel evaluated the current issues on the agenda and harshly criticized the disciplinary actions against those responsible for the unofficial sword oath of the lieutenants at the oath ceremony of the National Defense University Military Academy.

"THE REACTIONARY MINDSET HAS MOVED"

Özel stated the following in his remarks on the subject: "The lieutenants are graduating from Harbiye. For the first time in history, three of them are young women lieutenants. Here is the story of the Republic. They couldn't digest that those 3 women were at the top. At this ceremony, they said 'We are soldiers of Mustafa Kemal,' and initially, nothing happened to the lieutenants. That Hezbollah mindset, the reactionary mindset, has moved. Eight days later, Tayyip Erdoğan started attacking all of them, especially that first female lieutenant, whom he shook hands with, inquired about, and pinned a medal on. Investigations, news, those calling them coup plotters... The alleged crime is disobedience to orders, indiscipline. The real pain in the stomach is their saying 'We are soldiers of Mustafa Kemal.'

"THIS IS NOT A 28 FEBRUARY ISSUE"

Supposedly, when they say 'We are soldiers of Mustafa Kemal,' it becomes a 28 February issue. Mustafa Kemal has been here since November 10, he was not here on February 28. These lieutenants were not supposed to say 'We are soldiers of Tsikopis,' were they? This issue is not a 28 February issue. The soldiers of Mustafa Kemal have never harmed this nation, and they will not. But on July 15, we saw what Fethullah Gülen's soldiers did.

That is why, when we said 'A plot was set up' 14 years ago during the Balyoz conspiracy, those who set up the plot and those who governed the country were like flesh and bone. Those who look at loyalty rather than merit have brought disaster to this country. Supporting the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal is a debt of this nation as much as military service to the homeland and the nation.

Creating a coup structure is a bad political calculation. Every lieutenant dreams of becoming the Chief of General Staff on the day they wear their rank. The goal of Atatürk's lieutenants is to serve this nation at the highest level. They forgot the oath at the graduation ceremony of the Bordo Bereliler. There is an opportunistic army that wants to inject FETÖ into Mustafa Kemal's army instead of the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal, injecting diseased cells instead.

"WHEN THE TIME COMES, WE WILL HOLD A CEREMONY FOR THOSE LIEUTENANTS"

Once again, we call out from here; all of you have children. Is it easy to expel these children, who are the top of their class? We will support these lieutenants. We have supported them in the past, and we will continue to do so. When we come to power, we will reinstate anyone who was unjustly dismissed. The time that passes in the meantime will cost them a lot. Do not expel, do not do it, do not infringe on the rights of others. If you do, when the time comes, we will hold a ceremony for those expelled lieutenants, and we will send those who obstruct it into retirement.