A chef who showed off his cooking skills in a social media clip wearing a Turkish army uniform is facing more than seven years in jail after he was accused of damaging the honour of the military.

Baffled Syrian national Yousuf Jaafer was filmed serving customers at his Istanbul restaurant last month, on 16th April, while wearing the army gear.

Now public prosecutors are demanding a jail sentence of seven years and six months, accusing Jaafer of deliberately humiliating the Turkish army, according to local media.

The restaurant’s owner Adnan Kalkmaz and manager Abdulkadir Guler are facing similar charges.

Astonished Jaafer has told police that he did not even know he was wearing a Turkish military uniform.

Bizarrely, he was seen arranging plates on a table wearing full desert camo gear complete with a flak jacket and ammo pouches.

He said: “In 2022 I started making videos and earning income through social media in the summer months.

“When I went to the restaurant in question, two foreign nationals who were customers there and said they were from Dubai, brought me the military uniform they had bought in Eminonu and offered to shoot a video of me in military uniform.

“I accepted this offer thinking that the video would be watched more.

“The two people at the table where I was serving the meat in the video were two people I did not know who brought me the military uniform and offered me the video.

“There was no flag or writing on the uniform I was wearing, I regret it very much.

“My purpose in shooting the video is definitely not to humiliate the Turkish military.”

The restaurant manager and owner claim that the footage was shot without their knowledge.

The trio are set to stand trial at the Istanbul Criminal Court of First Instance.