More Turkish soldiers die after suicide than in combat

More Turkish soldiers die after suicide than in combat

More Turkish troops have died after committing suicide than have been killed in battle in a period of 10 years, a report reveals, partially attributing the high suicide rate to the harassment of soldiers by higher-ranking officers.

The number of the soldiers who committed suicide between 2002 and 2012 was 934 while the number of the troops killed in combat within the time frame was 818, Turkish Daily Sabah reported citing figures released during a panel discussion on the impact of bullying on suicide in the Turkish military held jointly by associations of lawyers and retired military officers.

The figures released in the report additionally indicate that 158 more soldiers committed suicide during the past three years, a whopping sum of 1,141 since 2002.

According to the report, the figures were released during a Friday event entitled “Suicide and Mobbing (bullying) at Turkish Armed Forces,” which was jointly put together by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations and the Association of Retired Non-Commissioned Officers.

The panel discussion pointed to the abusive use of authority as well as wide-spread bullying practices in the Turkish military, indicating that ranking officers often humiliate low-ranking soldiers and officers for their personal problems.

During the event, it was further argued that “almost every non-commissioned officer has been exposed to psychological harassment (mobbing) for a certain period of their military career.”

Moreover, the panel discussion revealed that nearly 42 percent of the military officers complain of “insults,” and many others are psychologically exhausted of “disproportionately severe punishment,” not getting adequate health services, being “threatened,” running about high-ranking officers’ personal tasks, and sleep deprivation.

The report said that, alarmed by the high suicide rate, the Turkish military initiated a project in 2013 by which soldiers are assigned to a mentor to help them better adapt to military life.