Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned to his grandfather, who was killed decades ago, to respond to the opposition, which launched a scathing attack on Turkish authorities after two soldiers were frozen to death in the east.
The deaths of two soldiers in the cold during a military operation in the state of Tunceli last Saturday, a wave of anger at social networking sites, while the opposition blamed Erdogan for the incident.
Users questioned the extent of the exercises and preparations for the soldiers to work in such a cold weather, while others raised questions about the lack of "soldiers wear special clothing resistant to cold."
After the head of the Republican People's Party (CHP), the leader of the opposition, Kemal Kilicardaroglu, considered Erdogan to be directly responsible for the incident, the latter defended himself by restoring his grandfather's memory.
Erdogan said, before the deputies of his Justice and Development, according to the newspaper "Zaman" Arabic version, the recent days witnessed the death of two soldiers frozen, saying that Kilicdar Uglu is trying to exploit the incident.
The Turkish president, referring to the leader of the opposition, said that his grandfather was also killed in a "frozen sariqamish embracing his gun" during the Sargamesh campaign during the First World War.
He went back and described his grandfather as a martyr when he said: "Some people get the certificate are frozen, too," a description that had caused confusion earlier this year, when the Ministry of Defense responded to Erdogan.
Last January, the Defense Ministry returned to the Ottoman archives to respond indirectly to Erdogan, whose grandfather was considered a "martyr" after being frozen to death.
The newspaper said that the ministry issued a statement saying that Erdogan's grandfather died of cold during his service in the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, following a statement by the Turkish president on the subject.
The newspaper quoted the statement as saying: "We recorded in our archives that Kamal bin Mustafa, grandfather of our president Recep Tayyip Erdogan was serving in the military in these years and died during military service."
According to the official Ottoman registration system, "only those killed by the enemy's direct force are registered as martyrs, and those killed by cold, drowning or epidemics are not recorded as martyrs."
The statement came after Erdogan said in a speech on Jan. 9 that his grandfather was among those killed during the Sargamesh campaign that took place on the borders of the Russian Empire between December 1914 and January 1915.
Erdogan was speaking during the anniversary of the battle, which ended with a Russian victory and thousands of losses in the army of the Ottoman Empire.
"When some of the dignitaries returned to our village from Sarakmesh's campaign, they said they saw my grandfather frozen to death carrying his weapon in his hand," he said, "God has mercy on all the martyrs of Sarkeshm, including my grandfather." Defense to his denial.
