operationsfromreveilearlyinthemorningtoretreat(Zapfenstreich)intheeve-
ning.Duringfieldtraining,theGermanofficersopenlycriticizedtheirfellowsol-
diersforeverymistake.Thiswasquitedifferentfromtheratherindirectwayof
communicatingintheTurkish(military)culture.Erenwasalsodelightedbythe
goosestepmarchinfrontofthecommander,sincethiswayofmarchinghad
beenabolishedintherepublicanTurkisharmy.Personal hygieneanddaily
sportexerciseswerealsopraised,sincetheyhadalsobecomeapartofdaily
Turkishmilitaryroutine.However,Erenadmittedthat,contrarytotheTurkish
situation, 99 percentoftheGermanrecruitswereabletoreadandwriteand
hadatleastgraduatedprimaryschool.²⁵⁶Thestrictdisciplinewasalsovisible
beyondtheofficialservicehours,whenthesoldiersleftthebarracksonSundays
andreturnedbackintimefortheirduty.²⁵⁷Inthesecondpartofhisreport,he
admittedthathehadbeguntoassesseverythingintheTurkisharmyaccording
toGermanstandardsuponhisreturnfromhisone-monthinternship.ForEren,
therewerenodifferencesbetweentheTurkishandGermanmilitaryprinciples.
Thearmywasshapedbyitsownmilitaryhistoryandnationalcharacteristics
aswellassufficientfunding.AccordingtoEren,alloftheseconditionswereful-
filledinNationalSocialistGermany.²⁵⁸PointingtotheTurkisharmedforces,Eren
statedthatalotofthingshadyettobetakencareof.Inquiteanationalistman-
ner,ergointhelanguageofhistime,hethenclaimedthatregardlessofwhatthe
Westernarmieswouldachieve,thesoldiersoftheTurkishracewoulddobet-
ter.²⁵⁹WithregardtoTurkishdeficies,ErenagreedthattheTurkishnationhad
toimproveinseveralareas.QuiteinthespiritofCarlDiem,Erencalledfor
moreattentiontosportsandphysicaleducation.JustlikeRahmiApak,heplead-
edforanearlyindoctrinationofthechildrenwithnationalvalues,likeinGerma-
ny.IntheviewoftheTurkishcaptain,theNationalSocialistleadershipprinciple,
whichwasvisibleinciviliansphereandarmyalike,alsodeservedmoreatten-
tion.²⁶⁰JustlikeLieutenantMustafain 1913 ,ErenwasalsodelightedbytheGer-
manswhocoulddifferentiatebetweendutyandleisuretime,butyetneverforgot
Eren,“AlmanOrdusundaNelerGördüm.No.1,”112.
Eren,“AlmanOrdusundaNelerGördüm.No.1,” 115.
AsımEren,“AlmanOrdusundaNelerGördüm.No.2:SistemlerArasındaFarkVarMı?”
[WhatIhaveseenintheGermanArmy.No.2:IsThereaDifferencebetweentheSystems?],
AM 54 – 100 (1936), 149 – 152.
Eren,“AlmanOrdusundaNelerGördüm.No.2,” 153.
Eren,“AlmanOrdusundaNelerGördüm.No.2,” 154 – 155.
PreparingforTotalWar:TheCaseofAsımEren( 1935 – 1939) 219