Constitutional Court decides 'inadmissibility' to lieutenants' individual application

As a result of the disciplinary investigation initiated after the lieutenants crossed their swords and shouted the slogan "We are Mustafa Kemal's soldiers" at the graduation ceremony of the Military Academy on August 30, 2024, 5 lieutenants and 3 commanders were given the "punishment of separation from the Turkish Armed Forces".

Lieutenants Batuhan Gazi Kılıç, Deniz Demirtaş, Ebru Eroğlu, Serhat Gündar and Talip İzzet Akarsu made an individual application to the Constitutional Court through their lawyers. In their applications, the lieutenants argued that their right to a fair trial was violated.

The admissibility review of the application was made by the Second Section Third Commission of the Constitutional Court. The commission, consisting of members Rıdvan Güleç and Yıldız Seferinoğlu, definitively ruled that the application was unacceptable on 6 November 2026 due to "lack of jurisdiction in terms of subject matter" without examining other admissibility conditions.

JUSTIFICATION: "NOT IN THE AREA OF COMMON PROTECTION OF THE CONSTITUTION AND ECHR"

In the reasoned decision of the Constitutional Court, the first paragraph of Article 45 of the Law No. 6216 on the Establishment and Trial Procedures of the Constitutional Court was reminded. Accordingly, it was stated that in order for the individual application to be examined, the right allegedly violated by the public power must be guaranteed in the Constitution, as well as falling within the scope of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and additional protocols to which Turkey is a party.

In the decision, it was emphasized that the rights and principles regarding a fair trial in Article 6 of the ECHR are valid only when deciding "disputes regarding civil rights and obligations" and the merits of a "criminal charge", and said, "It is understood that the allegations of violations subject to the application do not fall within the scope of Article 6 of the Convention, and therefore are not within the common protection area of ​​the Constitution and the Convention."

Without examining other admissibility conditions, the Commission definitively decided that the application was "inadmissible due to lack of jurisdiction in terms of the subject matter" and that the litigation costs should be left to the applicants.