What Will Happen to Those Lieutenants?!

The decision regarding the 7 lieutenants whose dismissal from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is being sought due to the events that occurred after a lieutenant failed to wear an Atatürk photograph at the Atatürk Commemoration Ceremony on November 10 at the Tuzla Infantry School will be made tomorrow.

The Land Forces Command High Disciplinary Board (YDK) will first hear the defenses of the lieutenants and their lawyers at its meeting tomorrow. Subsequently, the board members will reach a decision through a vote. However, the decision reached will not be announced tomorrow, but rather within an estimated 7-10 days after the justification is written.

As we previously reported, the 4 lieutenants who reacted to the failure to wear the Atatürk photograph and their lawyers will attend the YDK meeting to present an oral defense. The lieutenant who allegedly did not wear the Atatürk photograph, along with the 2 lieutenants who supported him and their lawyers, decided not to attend the YDK meeting, claiming that "an objective investigation was not conducted and an objective decision would not be made," and opted to submit a written defense instead. It has been learned that the written defense in question was submitted last week.

DECISION OF LACK OF JURISDICTION IN THE CRIMINAL CASE

Beyond the administrative investigation initiated by the Ministry of National Defense (MSB), a development has occurred in the criminal investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the incident.

According to the information obtained, the relevant prosecutor issued a "decision of lack of jurisdiction" and sent the file to the prosecutor's office that handles military crimes. If the new prosecutor prepares an indictment, a criminal case will also be opened.

On the other hand, the first hearing of the compensation lawsuit filed by three lieutenants against 4 lieutenants, alleging that they were beaten and subjected to insults, could not be held last Thursday because the 4 lieutenants and their lawyers did not attend, and it was postponed to March.

EXPECTED PENALTIES

In the statement made during the Ministry of National Defense's press briefing last Thursday, it was emphasized that "There should not be the slightest doubt that no person, event, or situation that shakes the fundamental values of our Turkish Armed Forces, whose priority is to maintain institutional discipline, or that is contrary to discipline and disrupts or could disrupt military hierarchy, will be tolerated. Our Turkish Armed Forces is acting within the framework of the law in this incident, as it does in every incident," and it was stressed that "the most accurate and objective decision will be made by the High Disciplinary Board."

Sources close to the Ministry of National Defense report that it is expected that the High Disciplinary Board will decide on the dismissal of all the lieutenants from the TSK, but that the possibility of ending the training of the individuals in question at the Tuzla Infantry School and sending them to their units is also on the agenda.