What is the Prevention of the Exercise of Political Rights (TCK 114)?

Prevention of the exercise of political rights, is a type of offense that protects individuals' freedom to participate in politics and penalizes two distinct situations:

• TCK Article 114/1: Compelling an individual regarding their preferences concerning a political party or their will regarding elected offices by force or threat
• TCK Article 114/2: The prevention of the activities of a political party through force, threat, or other unlawful conduct

The Court of Cassation clearly emphasizes that the two paragraphs of Article 114 have different structures :

• In Article 114/1 "coercion/threat for the purpose of compelling" may be sufficient (the actual occurrence of the prevention result may not be required)
• in Article 114/2 however, the approach that "the party activity must have actually been prevented" comes to the fore

---

TCK Article 114/1: Crime of Coercion Regarding Individual Political Rights

Which Conducts Does TCK Article 114/1 Cover?

The law protects two main groups:

(a) Individual preferences regarding political parties

Against a person, for the purpose of compelling:

• To a political party to become a member or not to become a member
• To the activities of the party to participate or not to participate
• To resign from the party or from a position within the party administration leaving

directed towards force or threat its utilization.

(b) Coercion regarding publicly elected office

Compelling an individual, to a publicly elected office:

• Not to become a candidate
• If elected to resign from office

for the purpose of compelling force or threat its utilization.

Is a "Result of Obstruction" Required Under Article 114/1?

This is one of the most critical points in practice. In the decisions of the 4th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, regarding Article 114/1:

• The use of force/threats by the perpetrator for the purpose of compelling may be deemed sufficient.
• Furthermore, the consequence of the victim not actually being a party member, resigning from office, etc., may not be required..

In this respect, Article 114/1 can be evaluated as having a structure that is completed at the stage of "force/threats aimed at coercion" (as expressed in jurisprudence, "it is sufficient for the perpetrator to resort to force and threats for this purpose...").

---

TCK Article 114/2: Crime of Hindering Political Party Activities

What Does TCK 114/2 Protect?

This paragraph protects, rather than the individual preference of a person, more broadly, the freedom of activity of the political party and the functioning of political life.

What Does "Political Party Activity" Mean?

According to the Court of Cassation, political party activity may encompass all activities carried out by political parties in compliance with legislation and the party charter. (Naturally, the nature of the specific case is decisive.)

Must the Result of Prevention Occur in Article 114/2?

In the decisions of the Yargıtay, the following distinction is specifically made for Article 114/2:

• Unlike Article 114/1, Article 114/2 requires the occurrence of the consequence of "obstruction of activity".

In other words, not merely causing tension or disturbance, but the actual disruption, inability to conduct, halting, or de facto prevention of party activities becomes significant.

What Do "Coercion", "Threat", and "Unlawful Conduct" Mean Under TCK Article 114?

Coercion

Compelling a person to take an action by subduing their free will through the use of physical force (pushing, battery, forced removal, etc.).

Threat

Intimidating a person by notifying them that an evil will be inflicted upon them, thereby subduing their free will.

Other unlawful conduct (specifically under Article 114/2)

Unlawful acts other than coercion/threats, yet which de facto obstruct party activity.
For instance, unlawfully blocking entry to or exit from a meeting hall, or acts intentionally sabotaging the organization (varies depending on the specific case).

---

Penalty for the Crime of Prevention of the Exercise of Political Rights

Penalty under TCK Article 114/1

• imprisonment from 1 to 3 years

Penalty under TCK Article 114/2

• Imprisonment from 2 to 5 years

In addition to the penalty amount, the manner in which the incident was committed, the number of perpetrators, the tools used, and whether other crimes were committed (e.g., assault, deprivation of liberty, threat) are evaluated separately.

---

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1) What is the prevention of the exercise of political rights (TCK 114)?

TCK Article 114 penalizes the suppression through coercion/threat of an individual's will regarding political party membership/participation or candidacy/resignation for elected office through coercion/threat (114/1) and the prevention of political party activities (114/2).

2) What is the difference between TCK 114/1 and TCK 114/2?

• 114/1: Against the person coercion/threat in order to compel (in most practices, without requiring a specific outcome)
• 114/2: Party activity must be de facto hindered; furthermore, coercion/threats or unlawful conduct shall suffice.

3) What is the penalty term under TCK 114?

• 114/1: 1 to 3 years of imprisonment
• 114/2: 2–5 years of imprisonment

4) What constitutes a party activity, and does every political event fall within this scope?

In Court of Cassation jurisprudence, "party activity" is treated as activities conducted by political parties in compliance with legislation and their bylaws. However, whether an incident is deemed an "activity" and whether a "hindrance" has occurred are determined based on concrete evidence.

5) Are hindrances directed at the ballot box within the scope of TCK 114?

In a decision by the Court of Cassation, there are explanations stating that obstructive actions directed at the ballot box are not evaluated under TCK 114 in every circumstance; whether the incident relates directly to "internal party activity" or to the "election/ballot order" is significant. (Depending on the nature of the specific case, different statutory provisions may apply.)

---

Conclusion / Summary

TCK 114 is one of the fundamental penal norms protecting the freedom of participation in political life.

• TCK 114/1, regarding an individual's will concerning political party membership/participation or duties attained through elections punishes coercion by force or threat with a penalty of (1–3 years).
• TCK Article 114/2punishes the prevention of the activities of a political party through force, threat, or other unlawful conduct with a penalty of (2–5 years).
• In the jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay), while force/threat aimed at coercion is deemed sufficient under Article 114/1, the actual prevention of the activity is emphasized under Article 114/2. emphasizes. This distinction is of critical importance for the accurate determination of the legal qualification of the offense.

Atty. Batın YILMAZ