The crime of entering military restricted areas, as defined in Article 332 of the Turkish Penal Code, is not subject to complaint and is investigated ex officio by the public prosecutor’s office. In other words, there is no complaint period for these crimes. Waiving the right to file a complaint does not lead to the dismissal of the criminal case. The crime can be investigated at any time, provided that the statute of limitations is observed.
The statute of limitations is regulated in Article 66 of the Turkish Criminal Code and is a criminal law institution that leads to the dismissal of a criminal case if a case has not been filed after a certain period of time has elapsed since the crime was committed or if the case has not been concluded within the legal time limit. In the prosecution of the crime of entering military restricted areas, the ordinary statute of limitations period is 8 years for the act referred to in the first paragraph of Article 331 of the Turkish Criminal Code and 15 years for the act referred to in the second paragraph. The crime can always be investigated within this statute of limitations period, and no investigation can be conducted after this period has expired.
However, the competent court for the crime of entering military restricted areas is the district criminal court.