Turkish Air Force Chief Attacked for Directing Anti-insurgency Operation From Golf Course

For decades Turkey's armed forces have been virtually beyond criticism in a country where the military sees itself as a defender of the modern secular state.

But its status is being questioned after a senior commander was pictured playing golf hours after 17 soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdish militants.

General Aydogan Babaoglu, head of the air force, took part in a golf tournament in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya last weekend after reports emerged of a deadly attack on a military outpost in Aktutun, near Turkey's border with Iraq, by the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK).

He later claimed to have coordinated, the military's response from the golf course, which included air strikes against PKK bases in northern Iraq and ground manoeuvres inside Turkey. But he only returned to headquarters in the capital, Ankara, on Saturday evening, when the country was deep in mourning.

Now Babaoglu, 64, has been subjected to a media grilling hitherto unknown for military top brass after photos of his outing appeared on the front of two newspapers, Vakit and Taraf, both supporters of the Islamist-leaning Justice and Development party (AKP) government.

But criticism has also been voiced in the pro-secularist media, which has traditionally been friendly to the military. Hurriyet, an establishment newspaper, said it was unacceptable for Babaoglu to be playing golf - which it labeled the "sport of the rich" - after soldiers had died.

"You are a Turkish air force commander and your battle planes are engaged in an air operation. Air operations can't be coordinated from a golf course," wrote the paper's editor-in-chief, Ertugrul Ozkok. "The cave your planes bombed isn't the 18th hole either."

In response, Babaoglu said his golf trip been cleared in advance by a commander and accused his critics of seeking to undermine the military. "This should not be the way to criticize someone," he said. "By the time I got the news about the attack, I coordinated every move of our soldiers' counter-operations with my fellows in Ankara. Were there any shortcomings in the role of the air forces in the incident? Were there any mistakes? No."

But Babaoglu's claim appeared to be undermined by a statement from the general staff, which said he only learned of the attack on returning to Ankara.

The controversy has coincided with a media-led inquiry over whether intelligence or operational failings contributed to the attack, in which 25 Kurdish guerillas were also killed.

Dealing with the PKK topped the agenda at a meeting yesterday of Turkey's anti-terrorism board, consisting of senior ministers and generals. The military is believed to want increased powers, including longer detention periods and the right to search and detain suspects without prior authority.

Yesterday's meeting followed another attack blamed on the PKK on Wednesday, in which five people were killed.