tionbuildingintheearlyRepublic.Inthiscase,theapplicabilityofGermanmili-
taryknowledgehadreachedalimit.
CriticalTurkishresponsestoEren’sarticlecouldnotbefound.In 1937 he
publishedafourthessayabouttheTurkishapplicabilityofseveralmilitarytac-
ticshehadwitnessedduringmaneuversinGermany.ErenassumedthatGerma-
nydevelopedhighlyeffectivecombined-armsarmoredcapabilitiestodefeatthe
enemywithinshorttime.HewarnedhisreadershiptopreparetheTurkishstate
forthiskindofconflict.Erenpresentedtheminingoftheinfrastructureandim-
portantstrategicpointsastheonlywaytostopthefastadvancingenemywith
hisarmoredspearhead.Erengaveadetailedproposalofthistypeofwarfare
andstated:
“Dynamite,cable,machinegunandthetankcanons...thosearethefourinterlockedcor-
respondingmeansofworkinthefuturewar...Gladisthearmywhichpreparesallofthose
thingsinitsowncountry,initsownfactoriesandturnsthewholefrontierintoanimpass-
ablefieldofthorns!”²⁷³InOctober 1939 CaptainAsımErenwroteafiftharticleinwhichhecomparedthe
GermanandtheTurkisharmy.AccordingtoEren,theTurkisharmyhadproven
itssuperiorcombatvalueinthevictoriousbattlesoftheFirstWorldWaranddur-
ingthewarwithGreece.Erenstressedthatthisarticlewasnoadulationofthe
Germanarmy:“ItisnotrecommendedtoimitatetheGermansonehundred
percent.”²⁷⁴However,thereweregoodthingsthat theTurkisharmycould
learnfromtheGermans.Mostofthearticlesimplyrepeatedideasfromhissec-
ondarticlefrom 1936 .ErenunderlinedtheneedtoformanarmybasedonTurk-
ishmilitarythought,sinceGermanprincipleswereonlyusefulintheircountryof
origin.Turkeyhadto“freeitselffromforeignfundamentalsofleadershipand
fromits[foreign]specialists[...].Thosespendingtheirtimeimitating[foreign
militaryculture]havetoknowthattheywillalwayslagbehind.”²⁷⁵
Oneofthoseimitatorswastheauthorofapictorialinstructionmanual.Cap-
tainSalâhattinİnanhadtranslatedtheGermanspecialeditionoftheaforemen-
tionedWrong!/Right!series.Thebookletwaspublishedwiththeconsentofthe
AsimEren,“ZayıfOrdulariçinManialamaBirlikleriSevkveİdareninEnKuvvetliVasıtalar-
ındanBiridir;SonAlmanManevralarındanAlınanDersler”[ForWeakArmies:TheBlocking
UnitsareoneofthestrongestMeansofConduct;LessonsdrawnfromthelastGermanManeu-
vers],AM 55 – 106 (1937),4 89 – 50 7.
AsımEren,“AlmanOrdusundaTalimveTerbiyeUsullerimizleMukayesesi”[Comparisonof
theTrainingandEducationMethodsintheGermanArmywithOurs],AM 57 – 115 (1939), 1039 –
1066.
Eren,“AlmanOrdusundaTalimveTerbiyeUsullerimizleMukayesesi,” 1066.
222 4German-TurkishMilitaryCooperationafter 1918