BOLD – An officer serving in the Turkish Armed Forces who was killed during Turkey’s offensive into Northern Syria had reportedly been detained on terror charges previously, as part of a crackdown targeting the military personnel after the failed 2016 coup.
Çelebi Bozbıyık, a first-lieutenant of the Turkish army had been killed in Manbij province in Northern Syria on the 7th day of the incursion dubbed “Operation Peace Spring.” It had been revealed that he was detained on July 16, 2016, one day after the coup bid, in his unit in the southeastern city of Urfa.
Having remained in custody for 15 days with his hands cuffed behind his back, Bozbıyık was accused of being a member of the Gülen Movement which has been designated “terrorist group” by the administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The investigation on terror charges was reportedly still ongoing while he was killed.
Selcuk Ata an academic with a Ph.D. in criminal justice, shared Bozbıyık’s experiences from his social media account and said, “The case was like the sword of Damocles hanging over. There is no evidence about his case. If he had returned from this operation alive, he would most likely have been detained, then expelled and named as a traitor. Yet today we received news that he was killed. May his soul rest in peace…”
According to a personal acquaintance who spoke to BOLD, Bozbıyık graduated from the Military Staff Academy in 2014 and appointed to Urfa (Southeastern Turkey) as his first place of duty. After July 15th, 2016., he was taken into custody after he was labeled as a terrorist.
Bozbıyık was scheduled for promotion to the first lieutenant rank in 2017. This right was denied and not granted to him because of the case against him. He had received his rank after waiting for a year. He was allegedly subjected to mobbing resulting in his dispatching to dangerous zones more frequently than others.
Bozbıyık was accused of “terrorism” three years ago. Despite being labeled as a terrorist, he returned to active duty. He was killed on October 15 during the military action in Syria launched on the pretext of eliminating “terrorist threats.” Bozbıyık was buried in his hometown.