Chief of Staff under criticism

"In rationally ruled countries, anything to do with blood is treated very carefully," says Asisstant Prof. Dr. Serdar Degirmencioglu, a child rights activist and psychologist, upon media reports of Turkish flag painted in blood by school children.  

20 pupils drew blood and painted flag

According to media reports 20 pupils from Kirsehir, in central Anatolia, drew blood from their fingers with pins and painted a Turkish flag, which they then sent to Büyükanit as a present, as the general told journalists during a media briefing last week. The children were reported to say that it represented their reaction to the deaths of 12 soldiers who lost their lives in clashes with the Kurdish guerrilla PKK in southeast Daglica hamlet in October 2007.

Specialist Degirmencioglu in response to bianet's questions told that, primarily all such activities were unacceptable from a health perspective. He then continued his criticism of the Chief of General Staff Yasar Büyükanit for "encouraging" the attitude of the children.

Militarism speaks of "spilling blood" 

"However, in countries where militarism is intense, blood is not seen as something to be treated carefully, but something to be spilt. For a long time, messages like 'We founded this country by spilling blood and are protecting it by spilling blood', and presents this like something praiseworthy. As long as Büyükanit reacts like this, there will be many more flags like this sent."

Degirmencioglu has also criticised the fact that the General Staff has accepted money donations from primary school children. The official website of the General Staff published the letter of pupil I.A. from a primary school in Bursa, who collected money aomong his friends and donated it to the "Mehmetcik" Foundation, which collects money for relatives of killed soldiers and soldiers wounded in combat.

Explicit message needed 

According to Degirmencioglu, Büyükanit needs to send a clear message saying "We do not support [these kinds of activities]."

"What the children do is not directly encouraged by the General Staff. Thus, one could assume that they do these things out of their own free will. However, it does not show that the children made these decisions after enough deliberation and information. This is where the problem lies. In addition, the General Staff does not need this money; they should return such donations."

Thus, so Degirmencioglu, when General Büyükanit calls for support, he should say explicitly that this kind of support was not wanted. (GG/TK/AG)