BDP (Peace and Democracy party) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaþ had said that in his party's eye "Chief of General Staff General Necdet Özel is not even a corporal". He was commenting on the Chief of General Staff's interview in which the general had said that he was against the use of Kurdish in public education.

As soon as Demirtaþ reacted to the interview, a criminal complaint was filed by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) against him.

Demirtaþ had remarked that "Even if your rank is general, you are a corporal in our eyes. Your value is just that. It does not matter for us either it is a general or a corporal speaking. You have no value in our eyes".

Demirtaþ reiterated that his statements are indeed not an insult to general. "What I said - argued Demirtaþ - meant that comments by a chief of General Staff on the Kurdish people's right to receive an education in their mother tongue carry the weight of comments made by a corporal".