Noting the unhappy reaction of the victims’ families and their legal counsel, who had been hoping for a life sentence, to the ruling made last week, the AK Party politician added his voice to those opposing the decision. “The case of four soldiers who fell victim to a lieutenant’s ego has been treated as if they died in a car accident. Was a red light run or an illegal left turn made here that such a ruling emerged? The military court’s decision makes hearts bleed,” Bozdağ said. He asserted that the officer in question, Lt. Mehmet Tümer, should be convicted of a crime involving “eventual intent,” which under the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) would result in at least 20 years in prison.
Tümer was convicted of knowingly committing a crime and sentenced to nine years, two months for negligence while attempting to punish a soldier. Sgt. İbrahim Yaman and privates İbrahim Öztürk, Ali Osman Altın and Mesut Bulut died in an explosion in the Karakoçan district of Elazığ in the Aug. 17 incident. The military had initially explained the incident by saying the soldiers were victims of a hand grenade accident, logging the deaths as training accidents. A report subsequently appeared in the Taraf daily claiming that the deaths of the four soldiers were not the result of an accident, as was initially claimed, but due to the lieutenant’s anger over a private falling asleep while on night watch. Eventually Tümer was arrested, charged and tried.
Bozdağ further criticized the military court for the decision, saying it was not in accordance with the TCK, adding that “it’s not possible to accept or explain the military judiciary’s decision. I hope the military court of appeals will with throw the ruling out during the appeals process because the decision is in contravention of the TCK.”
