Turkish Military Expels Officers Over Pro-Secular Oath at Graduation Ceremony

The Turkish Armed Forces have dismissed five military academy graduates and three of their superiors after they took a pro-secular oath during a recent graduation ceremony, the Ministry of National Defense announced on Friday.

A disciplinary investigation was launched after a video surfaced showing approximately 400 cadets raising their swords and chanting, “We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal,” about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey and a symbol of secularism. The graduates also recited the Officer’s Oath, which pledges to defend a secular and democratic Turkey but was officially discontinued in 2022.

Following the probe, the Ministry’s High Disciplinary Board ruled in favor of dismissing the officers, emphasizing that any action deemed contrary to discipline would not be tolerated. However, the ministry did not disclose the names of those expelled.

Erdogan’s Crackdown on Secularist Symbols in the Military

The investigation gained momentum after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who attended the ceremony on August 30, vowed to identify and remove those responsible for the oath. Under Erdoğan’s leadership, Turkey has increasingly moved away from the rigid secularism instituted by Atatürk, embracing a more religiously influenced governance model.

Historically, the Turkish military has positioned itself as the guardian of secularism, playing a key role in political shifts. It staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and ousted an Islamist-led government in 1997. However, the balance of power shifted in 2016, when a failed coup attempt against Erdoğan led to mass purges across the military, judiciary, and public institutions. The government blamed the coup on Fethullah Gülen, a U.S.-based cleric who passed away last year.

A Landmark Graduation for Women in the Military

Beyond the controversy surrounding the oath, this year’s graduation ceremony marked a historic milestone: For the first time in Turkey’s history, female officers ranked as top graduates in all three military branches—the army, navy, and air force.