Can the lieutenants return to their duties?: Their lawyer explains
The decision regarding the lieutenants in the sword-oath investigation at the Military Academy has been announced. The Ministry of National Defense (MSB) announced that 5 lieutenants and 3 disciplinary supervisors were given a "dismissal from the Armed Forces" penalty. Following the decision, the question of whether the lieutenants could return to their duties became a subject of curiosity. A statement has come from their lawyer.
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The lawyer for the dismissed lieutenants, Öztürk, said, "As far as we know, if it hasn't been changed since, for the first time in the history of the High Disciplinary Board, a dissenting opinion was attached to the decision. We will read and evaluate those dissenting opinions as well... In our view, if a legal decision is made and there is no political pressure, they will return one hundred percent. They need to return. Because there is no indiscipline there. There is no crime either."
Lieutenants Ebru Eroğlu, Batuhan Gazi Kılıç, Deniz Demirtaş, Talip İzzet Akarsu, and Serhat Gündar, who gathered in the field after the official graduation ceremony ended on August 30, drew their swords, recited the Officer's Oath, and chanted the slogan "We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal," were dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces. The MSB announced that 3 disciplinary supervisors; Company Commander Major Murat Öztürk, Battalion Commander Staff Lieutenant Colonel Halit Türkoğlu, and Deputy Regiment Commander Colonel Alper Sarıçam also received a "dismissal penalty." It was noted that the disciplinary supervisors were high-ranking officers.
The lawyer for the dismissed lieutenants, Öztürk, evaluated the decision and the possibility of the lieutenants' return. Öztürk stated that the justification for the decision regarding the dismissed lieutenants had not yet reached them. Öztürk also stated that if a political decision is not made, the lieutenants could return.
Stating that they would be able to make an assessment after seeing the justification for the decision, Öztürk used the following expressions:
"The justification for the decision has not reached us yet. The Ministry of National Defense did something that does not fit state decorum at all, by sharing the decision with the press before sharing it with the parties involved. This is not a practice that has been done until today. First, let us see the reasoned decision, what is in it. Only after seeing it can we make an assessment. As far as we know, if it hasn't been changed since, for the first time in the history of the High Disciplinary Board, a dissenting opinion was attached to the decision. We will read and evaluate those dissenting opinions as well. In our view, if a legal decision is made and there is no political pressure, they will return one hundred percent. They need to return. Because there is no indiscipline there. There is no crime either."