Military service in Turkey
I have received a question from Fadi. He asks about military service. He says;
Dear Sadettin Orhan, I have recently started to read your articles on Hurriyetdailynews.com, and I have found them very helpful. I live in Istanbul and I recently married to a Turkish citizen and I will apply for Turkish citizenship once I am eligible (after 3 years). My question is; do I have to do military service once I obtain Turkish Citizenship? I am now 36 years old, and I will be 39 years old when I am eligible for Turkish citizenship. Thank you very much for your time and effort. Best Regards, Fadi.
General information
Before respond to Fadi’s question, I want to give general information about Turkish military service.
Military service in Turkey is compulsory for all male citizens between 20 - 41 years of age (with some exceptions such as handicapped, or mentally ill, or not healthy people). Women are allowed only to become officers choosing it as a career enrolling in military schools and not as conscripts. Those men who are 20 years of age but still continue their higher education at Universities or vocational training programs are allowed to postpone their draft until they have completed these programs. The duration of the basic military service varies: 15 months for privates (elementary or high school graduates), 12 months for reserve officers (University graduates), and 6 months for short-term privates (those who have earned a university degree and have not been enlisted as reserve officers).
For Turkish citizens who have lived or worked abroad for at least 3 years, a basic military training of 3 weeks is offered instead of the full-term military service if they pay a certain fee in foreign currency (5.112 Euros of today). Also in times when the General Staff assesses that the military reserve exceeds the required amount, paid military service of 1 month basic training is established for local citizens. After the 1999 earthquake, an exception was made and paid military service was accepted that year to help the economy using the collected money in reconstruction and rehabilitation of the cities suffered during that horrible earthquake of August 17th.
Let us come to the answer..
Dear Fadi, you now 36 years old and you will be 39 years old when you eligible for Turkish citizenship. So, as I mentioned above, all Turkish citizen have to military service between 20-41 years of age. Because of this obligation, you will have to do military service when you accepted Turkish citizenship.
On the other hand, Military service completed in the following countries shall be deemed to be accepted in the Turkish Republic: Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France (except those born after 1979), Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy (only for those born before Jan. 1, 1985), Norway, Greece, Tunisia and Syria. If you did military service in one of these countries, you may not do military service in Turkey. Countries not listed in this decree shall not be accepted by the Ministry of Defense and military service completed in these countries shall not be recognized as having been completed by Turkey.
For your questions: [email protected]
Dear Sadettin Orhan, I have recently started to read your articles on Hurriyetdailynews.com, and I have found them very helpful. I live in Istanbul and I recently married to a Turkish citizen and I will apply for Turkish citizenship once I am eligible (after 3 years). My question is; do I have to do military service once I obtain Turkish Citizenship? I am now 36 years old, and I will be 39 years old when I am eligible for Turkish citizenship. Thank you very much for your time and effort. Best Regards, Fadi.
General information
Before respond to Fadi’s question, I want to give general information about Turkish military service.
Military service in Turkey is compulsory for all male citizens between 20 - 41 years of age (with some exceptions such as handicapped, or mentally ill, or not healthy people). Women are allowed only to become officers choosing it as a career enrolling in military schools and not as conscripts. Those men who are 20 years of age but still continue their higher education at Universities or vocational training programs are allowed to postpone their draft until they have completed these programs. The duration of the basic military service varies: 15 months for privates (elementary or high school graduates), 12 months for reserve officers (University graduates), and 6 months for short-term privates (those who have earned a university degree and have not been enlisted as reserve officers).
For Turkish citizens who have lived or worked abroad for at least 3 years, a basic military training of 3 weeks is offered instead of the full-term military service if they pay a certain fee in foreign currency (5.112 Euros of today). Also in times when the General Staff assesses that the military reserve exceeds the required amount, paid military service of 1 month basic training is established for local citizens. After the 1999 earthquake, an exception was made and paid military service was accepted that year to help the economy using the collected money in reconstruction and rehabilitation of the cities suffered during that horrible earthquake of August 17th.
Let us come to the answer..
Dear Fadi, you now 36 years old and you will be 39 years old when you eligible for Turkish citizenship. So, as I mentioned above, all Turkish citizen have to military service between 20-41 years of age. Because of this obligation, you will have to do military service when you accepted Turkish citizenship.
On the other hand, Military service completed in the following countries shall be deemed to be accepted in the Turkish Republic: Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France (except those born after 1979), Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy (only for those born before Jan. 1, 1985), Norway, Greece, Tunisia and Syria. If you did military service in one of these countries, you may not do military service in Turkey. Countries not listed in this decree shall not be accepted by the Ministry of Defense and military service completed in these countries shall not be recognized as having been completed by Turkey.
For your questions: [email protected]
