Yankı Bağcıoğlu condemns omission of Atatürk from Turkish Navy's 140th anniversary video: "Unacceptable"

Retired Rear Admiral Yankı Bağcıoğlu has criticized the Turkish Navy over a video and website message marking 140 years of Turkish submarine operations. He said the material failed to mention both the era of Abdul Hamid II and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Bağcıoğlu said the omission of the period when the Abdülhamid and Abdülmecid submarines were added to the navy represented a significant gap in an account of a history that began in 1886. But he reserved his strongest criticism for the absence of Atatürk from both the video and the accompanying website text.

“

Not mentioning the Abdul Hamid II period at all is a significant omission

He noted that Atatürk gave the names Saldıray, Batıray, Atılay and Yıldıray to the Ay-class submarines. The retired admiral said the founder of the Turkish Republic and its eternal commander was not mentioned by a single word, name or image.

“

It is unacceptable that Atatürk was not mentioned

Bağcıoğlu contrasted that omission with the inclusion of the current naval commander through his image, name and signature. He said leaving Atatürk out of the 140-year history of Turkish submarine operations was incompatible with historical facts and the Turkish Navy's institutional traditions.

"The history of the Turkish Navy cannot be told selectively according to individuals and periods," Bağcıoğlu said. "The history of the Republican Navy cannot be written by disregarding Atatürk's legacy."

“

The history of the Turkish Navy cannot be told selectively according to individuals and periods. The history of the Republican Navy cannot be written by disregarding Atatürk's legacy.