The crime of entering military forbidden areas, which is included in Article 332 of the Turkish Penal Code, is not a crime subject to complaint, but is investigated ex officio by the prosecutor’s office. In other words, there is no complaint period for these crimes. The waiver of the complaint does not result in the dismissal of the criminal case. The crime can be investigated at any time, provided that the statute of limitations is respected.
The statute of limitations is regulated in Article 66 of the Turkish Penal Code, and it is a criminal law institution that results in the dismissal of the criminal case if a lawsuit has not been filed or a lawsuit has not been concluded within the legal period despite the fact that a certain period of time has passed since the crime was committed. In the proceedings for the crime of entering military forbidden zones, the ordinary statute of limitations for the act in the first paragraph of Article 331 of the Turkish Penal Code is 8 years, and the statute of limitations for the act in the second paragraph is 15 years. The crime can be investigated at any time during this statute of limitations, and no investigation can be carried out after this statute of limitations has expired.
However, the court responsible for the crime of entering military forbidden zones is the criminal courts of first instance.
