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Monday, May 9, 2011
Fiancee says Armenian soldier’s death suspicious
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Questions linger as Armenian-Turkish solider receives final rites
Questions linger as Armenian-Turkish soldier receives final rites
 DAILY NEWS photo, Hasan ALTINIŞIK |
Mourners at the Istanbul funeral of a Turkish soldier of Armenian descent called Wednesday for further investigation into his death while performing his military service in the southeastern province of Batman.
Sevag Şahin Balıkçı, who was killed in an alleged accident April 24, was buried in the Armenian Cemetery in Istanbul’s Şişli district following rituals conducted at the Surp Vartananzs Armenian Church in the Feriköy neighborhood. A military ceremony for the dead solider was conducted Monday.
“Every boy wants a toy gun, but Sevag had never touched a gun [in his life], even for a single day,” Ani Balıkçı, the soldier’s mother, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, adding that she had spoken to him on the phone the day before Easter, April 24, and sent him Easter “çöreks,” a sweet Turkish bread that he liked.
“He shared his çöreks with his friends in the unit. The soldier who accidentally killed him was his closest friend,” Balıkçı said. “I just want to ask the officials why no measures were taken to prevent such an accident.”
Sevag Şahin Balıkçı, 25, was allegedly killed by a stray bullet while one of his friends was joking around with a rifle.
Speculation within the Armenian community has centered around the fact that Balıkçı’s death coincided with the date when some countries commemorate the alleged Armenian genocide in the last days of the Ottoman Empire.
Many of Turkey’s Armenians believe the accident occurred under dubious circumstances, despite Ani Balıkçı’s comments urging people not to create a link between her son’s death and the events of 1915.
“The fact that the accident coincides with April 24 is highly dubious. This issue must be thoroughly investigated... The family perhaps is afraid of expressing their anxiety because they hesitate, but we are waiting for an answer,” said Mari Yalınbaş, one of the attendants at the church funeral.
Raffi H. Araks, the deputy mayor of the Princes’ Islands in the Marmara Sea, said he believes Balıkçı’s death was an accident, arguing that the soldier who died could have been of Turkish, and not of Armenian origin. “Of course, a proper investigation needs to be conducted in order to remove all doubt, but as the family’s statement also shows [this incident] was accidental,” Araks said.
Balıkçı’s coffin was covered with a Turkish flag as he had died while performing his service in the Turkish military, and a cross-shaped wreath was placed on the flag.
The funeral was attended by State Minister and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bağış, several high-ranking officers representing the Turkish General Staff, the religious leaders of several minority communities and churches, Şişli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül and Deputy Mayor Vasgen Barın, Princes’ Islands Mayor Mustafa Farsakoğlu, as well as Araks.
Wreaths sent by Turkish General Staff and the Office of the Commander in Chief were placed both inside and outside the church. During the funeral, which was attended by hundreds of people, Muslims and members of the Armenian community prayed together for Balıkçı.
Turkish soldier claims to be guinea pig in military experiment
Turkish soldier claims to be guinea pig in military experiment
 'They attached cables to different parts of my body and electrocuted me,' said Alabay. DHA photo |
A soldier from Turkey’s eastern Şanlıurfa province has claimed that he was experimented on at the Gülhane Military Medical Academy, or GATA, and lost function of entire right side of his body. The General Staff has denied the claims.
Five months after he joined the military Fevzi Alabay experienced swelling in his hands. Alabay was first sent to the infirmary and then taken to GATA, three month ago.
Alabay claims he did not sign documents put in front of him as he is illiterate, and was then experimented on. “The doctors at GATA said the swelling was neurological and I was kept bedridden in the neurology ward. Once my body reacted to the medicine they said I would receive physical therapy. Instead they attached cables to different parts of my body and electrocuted me,” said Alabay. He was kept in a room for four days and continually received injections.
There were other soldiers experimented on too, Alabay said. “Six soldiers died during the experiments and were taken from the hospital secretly. If my family did not find me, I might have died.”
Once his family located him, the soldier had already been at GATA for 68 days. When he left he was given a month-long health leave that requested a change of scene. “I do not know whether I will heal, but I am afraid to return to the military,” said Alabay, who has no function in half of his body except for his hand.
The soldier’s family said they located Alabay after they saw him on TV. Some soldiers at GATA were using high-level electromagnetic fields to determine a patient’s diagnosis and broadcast the footage, which featured Alabay.
Alabay was serving in the Istanbul Metris 47th Motorized Infantry Troop.
The Turkish General Staff said the medical process applied to the patient was carried out according to basic treatment principles. The claims of carrying out experimental treatment within the clinic and causing the death of soldiers as a result are unrealistic, said an official statement on the website of the Turkish General Staff.
“The soldier Fevzi Alabay was continually informed both verbally and in writing and he was not forced to take a treatment outside of his will. In every stage of the treatment, the patient's approval was taken and his undergoing faintness during the treatment is out of the question," said the statement.
"In reverse of what the patient claimed, he did not under go an electromagnetic application or an experimental medical treatment. Furthermore, the views of the patient were never taken under oath," said the statement.
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