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Suicides Add to Turkish Army’s Troubles

Sibel Utku Bila writes that the rise of suicides in the Turkish army is a sign of deeper problems.
A Turkish soldier takes up his position near the border with Syria at the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province January 25, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3CXC6

ANKARA — Humbled by a series of coup trials and a gutsy government, Turkey’s military is now called to account by a most unfamiliar quarter — a growing civic movement demanding answers on a suicide spree among soldiers, suspicious deaths and widespread complaints of ill-treatment in the barracks.

In Turkey, where the draft is compulsory, conscripts had for decades returned with stories of draconian discipline, daily torment and heavy-handed commanders acting with impunity. But as the military enjoyed an untouchable status shielded with laws, accounts of abusive practices became no more than soldier folklore retold to relatives and friends. A nation that takes pride in military service, Turks would take maltreatment for granted and even see it as a rite of passage to manhood.

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