Turkey’s Constitutional Court overturns ruling denying compensation to dismissed public officials

Turkey’s Constitutional Court (AYM) unanimously annulled the provision stipulating that public officials dismissed and reinstated with a decree law would not be entitled to compensation.

Monday October 07 2024 04:07 am

Dismissed employes hold a banner that reads, "Decree laws are a violation of human rights and should be abolished."

Duvar English

The Constitutional Court (AYM) has unanimously annulled the provision that public officials who were dismissed from their jobs by decree law (KHK) and later reinstated would not be entitled to compensation.

The AYM decision on the application of the 5th Chamber of the Council of State was published in the Oct. 7 issue of the Official Gazette.

The highest court of the country found the relevant article of the 2018 decree law as “unconstitutional.”

The article stated that “those who were directly dismissed from public office under a state of emergency with a decree law and reinstated by another decree law cannot claim any compensation for their dismissal from public office.”

The Court stated that the provision allows the rule to be applied beyond the duration of the state of emergency, and underscored “The rule stipulates that those who are reinstated cannot claim any compensation for their dismissal from public office, which is incompatible with the State's obligation to provide an effective redress mechanism against interventions against the material and moral existence of the person.”

The Turkish state dismissed nearly 130,000 public employees during the emergency rule imposed after the 2016 failed coup attempt. Afterwards, some dismissed employees were reinstated with other decree laws or with the decision of the Turkish Parliament's State of Emergency Inquiry Commission.