Ankara Regional Administrative Court 13th Administrative Litigation Chamber rejected by majority vote on 24 September the reinstatement application of Assoc. Prof. Hakan Koçak, who was dismissed from Kocaeli University by decree on 1 September 2016 for signing the Peace Petition. The court considered his signature on the petition “We Will Not Be a Party to This Crime” sufficient to establish contact and affiliation with the PKK and deemed his dismissal from public service a proportionate interference with freedom of expression. Dissenting judge Fazilet Akgül Arman stated that the file contained insufficient information and documents establishing an organizational connection. The Council of State 5th Chamber had previously ruled in cases involving Academics for Peace that signing the petition alone could not constitute evidence of contact or affiliation with an organization. The Council of State upheld reinstatement rulings concerning Ahmet Murat Aytaç, Halis Ulaş and Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu and also ruled in Hafize Öztürk Türkmen’s case that the signature alone did not constitute sufficient evidence. Koçak said the judicial process, which had lasted nearly 10 years, was political in nature. An appeal to the Council of State remained available against the appellate ruling.
7 October 2026
bianet