update: my brother just called us and said he had already left that barrack. He is now stationed in another city… Barracks of Turkish Air Forces are closed to visitors as the epidemic seen. News in Turkish here. Today we would attend my brother’s oath ceremony but he called us 2 days ago not to … Read more
Turkish prime minister outlines paid military exemption conditions from Hurriyet Dailynews by ANKARA – Anatolia News Agency Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says Turkish nationals of 30 years of age or older will be able to fulfill their military obligation by paying 30,000 Turkish Liras. Turkey considers allowing conscientious objection to military service Men … Read more
If newly proposed service plan Chief of Staff I harshly criticised before would be taken into agenda by the government, my personal support for AKP would cease immediately. According to a Friendfeed feed 200 thousand out of 800 thousand servicemen is used in services wtihin the army. Officials want more time for college graduates. They … Read more
A few weeks ago, Ministry of Defence and new Chief of Staff declared that they have plans to make military service 9 months for all. As a persuasive technique they underline that this will provide equality. At the moment there are five different service types. Their crude populism offers non-college graduates a decrease in their … Read more
It was first proposed when I was serving. We had some bad moments then we thought this will legally affect the following generations of conscripts. That is, instead of different service terms, all conscripts will serve for 12 months. This means those, who are not college graduate and thus serving for 15 months will have … Read more
Yesterday a police officer from the local police station had shown up at my parents’ place asking about me. It is about the military service thing again. In this slightly Kafkaeque turn of events, I brought my release papers etc to the station and I was told I was ok now. They have a huge … Read more
Playing chess with my students. Yes, I won:) Since I came back from the service, I have been meaning to have some peace of mind but unfortunately life is not fair, which I had learnt several times before, and things do not flow as smoothly as I hoped for. During the last month, 1) I … Read more
at 7.30 after check-in, I went through the passport control and the policeman told me that there was an arrest warrant about me. He did not know what the reason was and I was taken to a detention room. Later there I learnt the reason. It was about a trial of evading military service. As … Read more
Recently, Hürriyet posted service photos of popular actors, footballers etc…
A Celtic symbol for Freedom VIA
Erkan as a soldier is best at reading. 152 days, 27 books
Thanks to one of my favorite Facebook application, Book Tracker, you can see what I have read while I was in the army. The list is at the end of this post.
Here is the playlist;I would like to listen in the loudest volume possible when I arrive Istanbul on Thursday morning:
It is unbelievable but I have only 12 days left here. I do not have any night duties any more and thus I can sleep more and there is less physical work to do. I will probably be more online by next week. Last weekend there was the Victory Day celebrations and we were not … Read more
I don’t like Nil Karaibrahimgil’s too girlish attitude much but I like this song as it bangs on my head in the internet cafe. Her summer hit. There are 24 days to freedom. Now I am one of the closest ones to finish the service- called "tezkereciler". I am now bolder to ask for … Read more
1,5 months left. Another bi-weekly break ends in a hurry. No time left of after replying mails and playing with Facebook. It just goes smoothly. One day I am in charge of tea-service, one day of entrance gate, another day soldiers’ canteen… Hopefully, Erkan’s Field Diary will be relaunched with some design novelties in less … Read more
Watch duty at the Tosya Prison. I finally find a task I can achieve successfully: I asked our lieutenant if I am allowed to buy newspapers every day for all soldiers here. Now that I am officially appointed, I go out everyday to buy at least two newspapers. Here I discovered a daily I have … Read more
