Five former Turkish lieutenants expelled following a disputed oath-taking face up to four years in prison each on charges of making false accusations against military commanders involved in their dismissal, the Sözcü daily reported on Monday.
The five were expelled in January 2025 after joining fellow graduates in taking an oath outside the official program at the Turkish Military Academy on August 30, 2024. The newly commissioned officers raised their swords, pledged loyalty to Turkey’s secular and democratic principles and chanted, “We are Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers,” referring to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.
The Defense Ministry said the officers were dismissed for violating military discipline, rather than for the content of the oath.
The charges concern their subsequent allegations that senior military officials pressured the disciplinary board to dismiss them.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is seeking sentences of one to four years for Batuhan Gazi Kılıç, Deniz Demirtaş, Ebru Eroğlu, Serhat Gündar and Talip İzzet Akarsu under Article 267(1) of the Turkish Penal Code, which criminalizes knowingly making false accusations intended to trigger criminal proceedings or administrative sanctions.
The indictment names Chief of General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, who was commander of the Turkish Land Forces at the time of the expulsions, as the alleged victim, while members of the Supreme Disciplinary Board who voted to dismiss the lieutenants are listed as complainants.
The officers’ lawyers filed a criminal complaint alleging that the board had initially voted 7-2 against dismissal but that pressure from Bayraktaroğlu had changed the outcome. The final decision to expel the lieutenants was adopted by a 5-4 vote.
Prosecutors declined to pursue the complaint, citing insufficient evidence, according to Sözcü. Board members who voted for the expulsions subsequently filed a complaint against the five former officers, accusing them of making false accusations and insulting public officials in connection with their duties.
According to Sözcü’s account of the indictment, prosecutors said they had found no witness testimony, documents or other material evidence establishing that board members had been ordered or pressured to change their votes. Prosecutors alleged that the officers’ claims amounted to false accusation.
The indictment, dated October 13, 2026, was prepared the day after Ebru Eroğlu and Akarsu appeared on journalist Barış Terkoğlu’s program on Onlar TV, where they discussed their expulsions in public.
“What else could they expect from us other than saying, ‘We are Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers’?” Eroğlu said during the broadcast.
Prosecutors are also seeking the application of Article 53 of the Turkish Penal Code, which provides for restrictions on certain rights following a conviction for an intentional offense, including holding some public offices and positions.
The first hearing is scheduled for February 9, 2027.
The Defense Ministry has claimed that the officers were expelled not because of the content of the oath but for what it described as a premeditated and collective act of indiscipline. The expulsions drew widespread criticism from opposition politicians, who accused the government of targeting the officers over their commitment to Atatürk’s secularist legacy.
Bayraktaroğlu, who was appointed chief of general staff in August 2025, had previously been accused by Özgür Özel, then leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), of pressuring the disciplinary board to dismiss the lieutenants.
Özel now leads the newly formed New Party. Bayraktaroğlu and other senior military officials subsequently filed defamation lawsuits against Özel over his remarks.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
