Military makes statement on debate over Hürriyet report

Turkey's military has made a statement on a recent debate over a report in daily Hürriyet that was also heavily criticized by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 

The military said on Feb. 28 that recent "unfounded and ill-intentioned" criticism toward Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar aimed at casting a shadow on the Turkish Armed Forces' (TSK) struggle against terrorism.

Following such criticism, the military made a statement to a journalist, read the statement. 

The TSK said it did not use any expressions of "unease." 

"We regret efforts to blur the agenda with allegations and defamation at a time when the Euphrates Shield operation [in northern Syria] is progressing successfully. Suggesting that there are problems between the Turkish Armed Forces and the government distorts the issue," read the statement, ading that the interlocutors for the "answers to the criticism were known."

Daily Hürriyet ran an article by Ankara Bureau Chief Hande Fırat on Feb. 25, which cited military sources outlining the General Staff's stance on seven issues on which they had been subjected to criticism. The headline of the newspaper read "Seven Answers to Seven Criticisms," while the headline on the inside page read "Unease at military HQ."

The headline on the inside page specifically drew Erdoğan's criticism. 

"Of course the headline on the inside was very ugly," he told reporters at Ataturk International Airport before leaving for a regional economic summit in Pakistan.        

"These expressions have disturbed us and they have disturbed the TSK even more. It is impossible that our armed forces would not be disturbed about an issue that disturbs us. We are like the organs of the same body," Erdoğan said, defining the...