CEDH · CASELAW;COMMUNICATEDCASES;ENG — 23 mars 2026

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All applicants, except for the seventh, are members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The seventh applicant identifies himself as an anti-militarist and a pacifist, and states that he had been actively involved in movements for anti-militarism and conscientious objection. All applicants have been repeatedly called up for compulsory military service for many years, since between 2005 and 2014 (see the Appendix below). However, none of them had ever presented himself for military service following their initial call-up. Instead, some of the applicants submitted letters to the local military service directorates declaring their conscientious objection to performing military duties and expressing their willingness to undertake an alternative form of civil service. Yet, the authorities rejected these requests on the basis that Turkish legislation contains no provision for an exemption from compulsory military service on these grounds. Consequently, they have all been repeatedly prosecuted and convicted as draft evaders. In connection with these criminal proceedings, the applicants lodged individual applications with the Turkish Constitutional Court (“TCC”) at different times (see Appendix), primarily invoking Articles 3 and 9 of the Convention. Some of them also invoked Article 4 § 1 of Protocol No. 7 to the Convention. To date, all of these applications remain pending before the TCC. Nevertheless, the applicants lodged the present applications with the Court on the dates indicated in the Appendix. In this connection, they contended that, since its jurisdiction over individual applications was established in 2013, the TCC has not issued a judgment on the merits in any conscientious objection case. They therefore maintained that the TCC can no longer be regarded as an effective remedy for their complaints and, thus, they were not obliged to await a decision by it. The applicants invoke Articles 3 and 9 of the Convention before the Court, complaining that repeated criminal proceedings for refusing to perform military duties on account of their conscience violate these articles. Except for the seventh applicant, they also argue that Article   4 §   1 of Protocol No. 7 to the Convention has been violated due to their repeated punishment for not complying with a renewed order to serve in the military, as they consider this to constitute multiple punishments for the same offence. Furthermore, the applicants argue that the TCC’s failure to address matters relating to conscientious objection has deprived them of an effective remedy under national law within the meaning of Article 13 of the Convention.       QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES 1.     Have the applicants exhausted all effective domestic remedies, as required by Article   35 §   1 of the Convention?   In particular, having regard to the particular circumstances of the present applications, is an individual application to the Turkish Constitutional Court an effective remedy to be exhausted for the applicants’ complaints under Articles 3 and 9 of the Convention and Article   4 § 1 of Protocol   No.   7 to the Convention (see, for the general principles, Scoppola v.   Italy (no. 2) [GC], no.   10249/03, §§ 68-71, 17   September 2009)?   2.     Did the applicants have at their disposal an effective remedy for their complaints under Articles 3 and 9 of the Convention and Article   4 §   1 of Protocol   No.   7 to the Convention, as required by Article 13 of the Convention?   In this connection, did the first and the seventh applicants duly raise a complaint concerning the lack of an effective remedy under national law, given that they referred to this matter explicitly only in Sections E and G of the Court’s Application Form, namely in the parts on the “Statement of Facts” and on “Compliance with the admissibility criteria under Article 35 § 1 of the Convention”?   3.     Have the measures taken against the applicants for refusing to perform military service amounted to inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention (see, among other authorities, Ülke v.   Turkey , no.   39437/98, §§ 52-64, 24 January 2006; Feti Demirtaş v.   Turkey , no.   5260/07, §§ 87-93, 17 January 2012; and Buldu and Others v.   Turkey , no.   14017/08, §§ 74-78, 3 June 2014)?   4.     Has there been a violation of the applicants’ freedom of thought, conscience, or religion, within the meaning of Article 9 § 1 of the Convention, on account of the repeated criminal proceedings against them for refusing to perform their military service (see, among other authorities, Bayatyan v.   Armenia [GC], no. 23459/03, §§ 112-128, ECHR 2011; Feti Demirtaş , cited above, §§ 98-115; Buldu and Others , cited above, §§   84-93; Mushfig Mammadov and Others v. Azerbaijan , nos. 14604/08 and 3   others, §§   80-94, 17   October 2019; and Kanatli v. Türkiye , no.   18382/15, §§   44 ‑ 48, 12   March 2024)?   5.     In applications nos. 12122/24, 30338/24, 32650/24, 32652/24, 32654/24 and 32998/24, have the applicants been tried and/or convicted twice (or more) for the same offences of which they have already been finally convicted or acquitted, as prohibited by Article 4 § 1 of Protocol No. 7 to the Convention (see, for the general principles, Sergey Zolotukhin v. Russia [GC], no.   14939/03, §§ 70-84, ECHR 2009; A and B v. Norway [GC], nos.   24130/11 and 29758/11, §§ 117-134, 15 November 2016; and Bajčić v.   Croatia , no. 67334/13, §§   25-47, 8 October 2020)?   APPENDIX No. Application no. Case name Lodged on Applicant Represented by Individual applications pending before the TCC (date of submission and application number) Compulsory military service call-up date 1. 12122/24 Ölgün v. Türkiye 22/04/2024 Ersin ÖLGÜN Petr MUZNY 22/01/2024; no. 2024/6343   2005 2. 30338/24 Orak v. Türkiye 08/10/2024 Arif Emrah ORAK Petr MUZNY 07/08/2018; no. 2018/25273 2012 3. 32650/24 Sarıalp v. Türkiye 30/10/2024 İlker SARIALP Petr MUZNY 21/08/2019; no. 2019/30683   2008 4. 32652/24 Altay v. Türkiye 30/10/2024 Volkan ALTAY Petr MUZNY       01/08/2016; no. 2016/4486       02/02/2024; no. 2024/9375       22/04/2025; no. (n/a) 2008 5. 32654/24 Elbe v. Türkiye 30/10/2024 Nuri ELBE Petr MUZNY       18/04/2019; no. 2019/13550       21/02/2022; no. 2022/25835       29/03/2022; no. 2022/35010       14/04/2022; no. 2022/44205       09/06/2022; no. 2022/62750       17/10/2022; no. 2022/93742 2007 6. 32998/24 Yalınay v. Türkiye 24/10/2024 Mehmet Bülent YALINAY Petr MUZNY 1) 06/01/2023; no. 2023/3201 2) 14/01/2025; no. (n/a) 2014 7. 22159/25 Aru v. Türkiye 11/07/2025 İnan ARU Kerem ALTIPARMAK 1) 01/08/2018; no. 2018/23832 2) 03/04/2023; no. 2023/32167 2011