Kalaç v. Turkey: The Military as the Custodian of Secularism Alla Turca
by Ahmet Said Aydil
Question(s) at stake
Whether a military officer’s compulsory retirement for conduct deemed incompatible with military discipline and laiklik (secularism) violated his right to religious freedom under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Outcome of the ruling
The Court determined that the compulsory retirement of Mr Faruk Kalaç from the Turkish military was not based on his religious beliefs or practices but on his conduct and attitudes deemed incompatible with military discipline and the principle of secularism. The Court held that military personnel voluntarily accept certain restrictions on the exercise of their rights, and the measures taken against Mr Kalaç were justified by the need to maintain the secular and disciplined nature of the armed forces.
Country:
Official citation
Kalaç v. Turkey, App. no. 20704/92, 1 July 1997
Topic(s)
Keywords:
Freedom of thought, conscience and religion Laïcite Margin of appreciation Termination of employment Military service Types and actors Dismissal Public sector Armed Forces
Tag(s):
Secularism Laiklik Süleymancılık tarikatı
Bibliographic information
Access case report
View case report in the CUREDI databaseAbout the authors
Ahmet Said Aydil (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Department Law and Anthropology, Germany)
Ahmet Said Aydil is a PhD Candidate in the Law and Anthropology Department at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Bilkent University (Ankara, Turkiye). Following his graduation, he completed his legal internship, working in areas such as commercial law, international arbitration law, criminal law, and administrative law. In 2020 he passed the Turkish Bar and became a licensed attorney.
Aydil also holds an LLM from the Europa Institute, Saarland University, in International and European Human Rights Protection Law and European Economic Law. Under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Thomas Giegrich, his master’s thesis analysed the decline in human rights commitmens in Europe, driven by the rise of populist politics and the mishandling of the refugee influx of 2015, and evaluated potential remedies at the European Union and Council of Europe levels. His current research falls within the framework of the database project “Cultural and Religious Diversity under State Law across Europe” (CUREDI) at the MPI.