Reasoned decision for the dismissal of lieutenants revealed! Striking detail regarding Lieutenant Ebru

Following the graduation ceremony of the National Defense University Military Academy on August 30, 2024, the lieutenants crossed their swords, recited the officer's oath, and subsequently shouted, "We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal."

While pro-government media targeted the young lieutenants by implying they were 'coup plotters,' AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated, "Who are you drawing these swords against? All necessary investigations regarding these individuals are being conducted, and those few who do not know their place will be purged."

Following this statement by Erdoğan, Ebru Eroğlu, Batuhan Gazi Kılıç, Deniz Demirtaş, Talip İzzet Akarsu, and Serhat Gündar, who were referred to the High Disciplinary Board with a request for dismissal, as well as 3 disciplinary supervisors, Colonel Alper Topsakal, Lieutenant Colonel Halit Türkoğlu, and Major Murat Öztürk, were dismissed from the TSK by a majority vote.

While 5 members of the Land Forces Command High Disciplinary Board voted in favor of the lieutenants' dismissal, 4 members opposed it.

12punto columnist Müyesser Yıldız had previously reported the dissenting opinion of the 4 HDB members.

The President of the High Disciplinary Board, the Chief of Staff of the Land Forces Command, the Head of Legal Services, the Head of Logistics, and the Personnel Colonel opposed the dismissal of the lieutenants from the TSK for the following reasons:

SAYING ''WE ARE THE SOLDIERS OF MUSTAFA KEMAL''

“Article 13 of the TSK Internal Service Law defines military service as 'absolute obedience to laws, regulations, and superiors, and respect for the rights of subordinates and superiors,' emphasizing that discipline is the foundation of military service. Article 1 of the TSK Disciplinary Law states that the purpose of this Law is to determine the procedures and principles regarding the establishment, preservation, and maintenance of an effective disciplinary system in the Turkish Armed Forces. Clause (c) of the first paragraph of Article 20 of the same Law lists 'engaging in behavior that hinders service' among the disciplinary offenses requiring dismissal from the Armed Forces, defining it as 'engaging in attitudes and behaviors that damage the reputation of the State and the Turkish Armed Forces, or committing acts that constitute a serious crime or disciplinary offense.' When returning to the event within the scope of the specified legislative provisions; considering the attributed actions, the requests made by the class president and his senior cadet friends to read the oath that was not in the program and was removed from the legislation during the ceremony, and to make changes to the ceremony speech planned by the class president to commemorate a deceased cadet classmate, fall within the scope of the provision 'Every soldier shall make their requests regarding official and personal matters verbally or in writing, starting from their immediate superior through the chain of command,' these requests were rejected each time, and an order was given that the oath currently in force in the National Defense University Ceremony Directive would be read at the official ceremony; indeed, the oath in the current directive was read at the August 30 official ceremony, there was no known and specific order regarding service stating that the said oath would not be read at the end of the official ceremony, the statement 'We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal' made at the end of the official ceremony and the content of the read oath do not constitute a violation of the law when considering Article 2 of the Constitution and the articles of the Military Academies Law, and therefore were rightly not the subject of a disciplinary investigation; on the other hand, when the issue of the said oath being read by some cadets on the previous night, even if unplanned, is evaluated together, the personnel's action cannot be accepted as an attitude or behavior that damages the reputation of the State and the TSK, or as an act constituting a serious crime or disciplinary offense, and accordingly, it does not constitute the disciplinary offense of 'engaging in behavior that hinders service' which requires the penalty of dismissal from the Armed Forces; a contrary acceptance would not only be inconsistent with the principle of 'proportionality,' which includes the sub-principles of proportionality, necessity, and suitability, but would also not be in accordance with equity; therefore, as we are of the conscientious opinion that a decision should be made that there is no place for imposing the penalty of dismissal from the Armed Forces on the personnel, we did not join the opinion of the majority to the contrary.”

THE JUSTIFICATION OF THOSE WHO REQUESTED DISMISSAL HAS EMERGED

According to ANKA's report, the justification of the 5 HDB members who voted for the dismissal of the lieutenants has become clear.

In the 47-page reasoned decision of the 5 members, it was alleged that "It is understood that the reading of the text regarding the oath was planned in advance by the lieutenants, and despite the request being rejected by disciplinary supervisors, the reputation of the Turkish Armed Forces was damaged in the eyes of the nation, even if it was after the ceremony."

LIEUTENANT EBRU PLAYED A LEADING ROLE

It was alleged that Ebru Eroğlu, who graduated first from the Military Academy and received her graduation diploma from AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, planned the protest and played a leading role.

"USING THE PHRASE 'WE ARE THE SOLDIERS OF MUSTAFA KEMAL' OUT OF CONTEXT ALSO DIMINISHES THE VALUE OF THE PHRASE"

The justification noted the following:

“When each of the concrete events is evaluated individually, acts related to the fundamental values of the TSK and Military Academies, the process starting from days before the ceremony day, and the way the event occurred will be considered a disciplinary offense as a protest behavior that could create a sense of opposition in society, create a perception that the values in the content of the oath known as the Officer's Oath, which was removed from the directive, are being excluded, and consequently cause the TSK to be debated. Using the phrase 'We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal,' which expresses loyalty to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, out of its purpose and in a protest action containing opposition, would not only be a disciplinary offense but also a behavior that diminishes the value of the phrase.

Thus, the actions have caused the TSK to become a subject of debate, caused divisions in society, and caused the army to be tarnished in the eyes of the nation, which has never doubted its love for the homeland, the nation, and Atatürk. The said action has caused a belief to form in society that the TSK's trust has been shaken, as if the military oath had been abandoned.

Considering the negative impact of the act performed unauthorized and outside the program in the military ceremony area on military service, the place where the disciplinary offense was committed, its consequences, and its negative effects on the TSK, and evaluating it within the integrity of the personnel's action, it has been concluded that it constitutes a serious disciplinary offense that damages the reputation of the state and the TSK, and therefore, in accordance with clause (c) of Article 20/1 of the TSK Disciplinary Law No. 6413, it constitutes the disciplinary offense of 'engaging in behavior that hinders service.'"