Turkey

 

Conscription:

Yes

 

Conscientious objection:

-

 

Service

 

Military:

6

Since 2019, there is the option of paid service: if one pays around €4900, he can serve for 1 month (including only basic training).

Civilian:

-

Not available.

Minimum

 

Conscription:

20

 

Voluntary enlistment:

17

17 for the registration to the 'National Defence University'.

More

https://ebco-beoc.org/Türkiye

Please check section 1.1.1.1 European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and section 1.1.1.2 Committee of Ministers.

Türkiye is the only member state in the Council of Europe that has not recognised the right to conscientious objection to military service, or at least indicated the intention of making alternative service available. Türkiye continues to prosecute conscientious objectors and to ignore the judgements which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has pronounced since 2006 in favour of Turkish conscientious objectors, in what the Committee of Ministers has named the “Ülke group” of cases. Many different penalties are imposed on those who refuse to perform military service. As a result, conscientious objectors face ongoing arrest warrants; a life-long cycle of prosecutions and imprisonment, and a situation of “civil death” which excludes them from social, cultural and economic life.

The Conscientious Objection Association in Türkiye, a member of EBCO, had to close down at the end of 2021 due to increasing pressure on civil society organizations in Türkiye. Following the official closure of the association, activists and experts working on the right to conscientious objection in Türkiye started to continue their work in the field as a civil initiative. Since early 2022, Vicdani Ret İzleme,[1] an initiative working in the field of conscientious objection, has been monitoring and reporting on the current situation of conscientious objectors in Türkiye, the human rights violations they experience, and the judicial processes they go through. The initiative advocates for the recognition of the right to conscientious objection in Türkiye.

Throughout 2022, Conscientious Objection Watch produced periodic bulletins [2] for a year to document and make visible the current situation of conscientious objectors in Türkiye.

In 2022, a total of 27 people in Türkiye declared their conscientious objection by contacting Conscientious Objection Watch.

Human Rights Violations, Restrictions and Prosecutions of Conscientious Objectors in Türkiye in 2022

  • In January 2022, conscientious objector Şendoğan Yazıcı was sentenced [3] to 1 month and 20 days in prison by the Borçka Criminal Court of First Instance.
  • In February 2022, conscientious objector Reha Eskidir was sentenced to imprisonment under Article 63 of the Military Penal Code No. 1632 on the grounds that he was a "draft evader". During the hearing at Zonguldak 3rd Criminal Court of First Instance, the court sentenced him [4] to 5 months and 18 days in prison.
  • In May 2022, conscientious objector lawyer Gökhan Soysal’s bank account was confiscated [5] due to an administrative fine imposed on him for not joining the military. At the same time in May, Gökhan Soysal filed an individual application to the Constitutional Court [6], stating that he had been discriminated against because he was a conscientious objector.
  • At the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on 23.05.2022, it's announced that "the way to benefit" from paid military service would be opened for draft evaders and evaders. Until this date, draft evaders and evaders, were unable to benefit from paid military service. With the decision from the Cabinet of Ministers, paid military service was also offered as an "alternative" for draft evaders and evaders. Conscientious Objection Monitoring Organisation issued a statement [7] on the issue. The statement is as follows: "The option of paid military service does not address the violations of Article 9 found by the ECtHR due to the lack of alternative service. In addition, anyone who wants to benefit from paid military service must fulfil one month of basic military training. This training includes wearing a uniform, obeying orders and all the routine requirements of ordinary military service. These conditions are unacceptable for people who absolutely refuse military service and wearing a uniform."
  • In October 2022, a previous prison sentence against conscientious objector Reha Eskidir was finalised. Eskidir had been sentenced to 5 months and 18 days in October 2021 on the grounds of "being a draft evader". This sentence was finalised [8] in October 2022 in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
  • In November 2022, conscientious objector Cemal Karakuş was sentenced again [9] by the Çorum 3rd Criminal Court of First Instance on the same charge on the grounds that he had previously been tried and sentenced by the Alaca Criminal Court of First Instance for not joining the military. In the same month, conscientious objector Seyda Can Yılmaz was sentenced [10] to 2 months by Ankara 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance for not going to military service on the grounds that he was a draft evader.
  • In December 2022, conscientious objector İnan Mayıs Aru was sentenced for not going to military service on the grounds that he was a draft evader. Aru was sentenced [11] to a total of 10 months imprisonment and a judicial fine of 500 liras, 6 separate sentences from 6 separate cases filed against him. In the same month, an investigation was launched against conscientious objector Hüseyin Civan on charges of "Opposing the Military Service Law".

All the cases, sentences and investigations in Türkiye throughout 2022 have once again revealed the lawlessness in which conscientious objectors in Türkiye are trapped. But in spite of everything, The European Parliament's mention of the situation of conscientious objectors in Türkiye and the violation of the right to conscientious objection in its resolution [12] of 7 June 2022 on the 2021 Commission Report on Türkiye was promising in terms of putting the violation of the right to conscientious objection in Türkiye on the agenda of international human rights mechanisms.