Tag: conscientious objection

  • Turkey Considers Allowing Conscientious Objection to Military Service

    Turkey Considers Allowing Conscientious Objection to Military Service

    Dorian Jones | Istanbul

    A soldier helps a girl to cross a street after an earthquake in Ercis, Turkey October 24, 2011.

    reuters turkey soldier 24oct11 eng 480

    Photo: Reuters

    A soldier helps a girl to cross a street after an earthquake in Ercis, Turkey October 24, 2011.

    Conscientious objectors to Turkey’s national army service face years in jail, often brutalized by fellow inmates for being traitors. But the government, under pressure from the European court of human rights, has indicated that it may allow conscientious objection. The issue has provoked a storm of controversy.

    Street parties are a common occurrence for young men heading off for their obligatory 18 months in the army.

    And many regard serving in the military as an honor, as this man explains.

    He says he is so excited to go, and he thanks God he does not have any fear of dying. He says the biggest reward in the army is to die there, and be a martyr, and that is why he has no fear. He says he is only afraid of making his family sad.

    But a handful of conscientious objectors who challenge such patriotic views face the full force of the Turkish state.

    In central Istanbul, several hundred protesters demonstrate against the imprisonment of conscientious objectors.

    This protester says anyone who refuses to do military service faces a lifetime of persecution.

    “So he is being arrested, then he is released because he has served his sentence,” he said. “Then he is picked up by the military police again, claiming he is running away from the army. And he says he is not running away from the army, he is just refusing. And he gets puts in jail again, and he is tried again. This goes on and on. This is [a] terrible vicious circle because it means a life sentence. He can never come back home.”

    The repeated imprisonment of conscientious objectors has resulted in Turkey being in violation of rules by the European Court of Human Rights on numerous occasions.

    Mehmet Tarhan is one of the country’s most famous conscientious objectors serving numerous prison sentences, and still facing the prospect of further jail time. While he welcomes the government moves, he remains cautious.

    He says the European Council gave a deadline for Turkey to introduce reform until December. Turkey kept saying to the council that it is making “preparations” every three months. So he says we will see the outcome of the last five years of preparations.

    Those against allowing conscientious objection could bring the measure to a halt.

    The leader of the far-right Nationalist Action party, Devlet Bahceli, launched an attack on the government, accusing it of betraying the army as it continues to fight against the Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

    He says that there can not be a more tactless behavior than a minister bringing to the agenda conscientious objection at a time when the Turkish Army is trying to protect the unity of the territory by fighting an excessive terror.

    The minister of defense is on record as saying he strongly opposes the reform. With conscientious objection recognized across Europe and even national service seen increasingly as outdated, observers say it seems Turkey is swimming against the tide.

    Political columnist Murat Belge says reform is key to modernizing Turkish society, although he warns it involves challenging one of its most sacred traditions.

    “The Turkish state was formed by the efforts of the military, so we all have to be soldiers,” said Belge. “But already as Turks, we are born soldiers. One after the other, they all keep saying the same thing. This is the ideology.”

    Both sides now seem to be digging in for what is expected to be a bitter and protracted struggle. Observers say the outcome is being seen as a key test of the government’s commitment to modernizing Turkish society.

    via Turkey Considers Allowing Conscientious Objection to Military Service | Middle East | English.

  • ‘Patriotic duty’ may no longer be mandatory for Turkey’s men

    ‘Patriotic duty’ may no longer be mandatory for Turkey’s men

    ISTANBUL // A term of “patriotic duty”, as the mandatory military service for every male is called in Turkey, has been a fact of life for millions in this country for decades. A well-known saying even states that “every Turk is born a soldier”.

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    But this is about to change. The government in Ankara says it is working on two separate reforms that, if enacted, could decisively reduce the military’s role in many people’s lives.

    One reform would give men over 30 years of age the chance to avoid military service by paying 25,000 lira (Dh51,000), while the other would allow conscientious objectors to choose non-military forms of public service for the first time in Turkish history. Women do not have to serve in the military.

    Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, said he would announce details of the plan in the coming days, with officials of his ruling party saying the announcement could come during a speech tomorrow.

    The plan will apply to men who have not yet served in the military because they have been studying or have been working and living abroad.

    According to news reports, men over 40 will be exempt from military service if they pay up, while candidates between 30 and 40 years of age would be required to take part in a training course for 21 days.

    Under current Turkish rules, regular conscripts between the ages of 19 and 41 serve a 15-month term in the 600,000 strong military, with university graduates serving six months. About 100,000 men are expected to make use of the new law, with the state netting roughly 2.5bn lira, according to news reports.

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    In a country where conscripts may end up in the military’s continuing fight against Kurdish rebels, the payment plan has triggered high expectations and speculation. Even though details of the new law have not been made public, private banks have said they will provide credit schemes for those who would not be able to raise the necessary money on their own.

    In recent years, deadly attacks by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a rebel group fighting for Kurdish self-rule since 1984, triggered protests by parents of fallen conscripts who said their sons had not been adequately trained before being sent into combat. In response to those complaints, Mr Erdogan said in September that army units consisting of professional soldiers would be deployed in the border areas in the south-east, the main theatre of the fight against the PKK, after the end of their special training next spring.

    Ismet Yilmaz, the defence minister, said this month that the payment scheme would be introduced to end uncertainty for men who have not yet been called up. “What do you want to do with them? Tear them away from their families, their children, their workplaces to put them into the army?” the minister asked.

    But critics argue the payment scheme will only benefit the rich, while the poor will have no choice but to join the army.

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    “Even now, soldiers dying in the fight against the PKK are all from poor families. The rich and the sons of high officials are not dying,” Mehmet Guner, the president of the Association of Martyrs’ Families, a group representing the relatives of soldiers killed in battle, said recently. Mr Guner said wealthy families used connections to officials in Ankara to make sure their sons would serve far from the fighting.

    Under the payment scheme, that imbalance was set to get even worse, he said. “Kids from poor families will not be able to get bank credit.” Mr Guner accused the government of trying to please a minority group of relatively wealthy voters by introducing the scheme. “But one day, they will pay the bill at the ballot box.”

    There have been three similar, time-limited payment schemes for military service with the last one introduced to raise state revenue after a devastating earthquake in 1999. That scheme generated reported revenues of more than 1bn lira. It is not known whether the new plan will have a time limit as well.

    Meanwhile, Sadullah Ergin, the justice minister, said that new rules dealing with conscientious objectors would also be put before the cabinet by the end of next week.

    The decision follows directives by the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights. As a member of the Council of Europe, Turkey is obliged to follow rulings from the court that has asked Turkey to end the practice of multiple jail terms for objectors and to find a way to no longer force young men into military service. Currently, conscientious objectors are treated as deserters, with several of them in military prison.

    There are about 80 conscientious objectors in the country, according to human-rights groups, but that figure could rise once it becomes easier to refuse military service.

    According to news reports, the new law would allow objectors to undertake non-military duties in the army, such as kitchen or cleaning work, or serve in hospitals or other public institutions.

    The alternative service is expected to be twice as long as the normal military service.

    tseibert@thenational.ae

    via Full: ‘Patriotic duty’ may no longer be mandatory for Turkey’s men – The National.

  • Turkey considers allowing conscientious objection to military service

    Turkey considers allowing conscientious objection to military service

    Men over the age of 20 must serve in the military for 15 months up and conscientious objectors are routinely prosecuted

    Associated Press in Ankara

    guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 15 November 2011 20.13 GMT

    Turkey’s justice minister says the country is considering introducing the right to conscientious objection for men who do not believe in military service.

    Military service in Turkey is obligatory for men over the age of 20, who must serve for 15 months. Conscientious objectors are routinely prosecuted.

    Sadullah Ergin, the justice minister, told reporters on Tuesday that the right to conscientious objection “will be assessed, discussed and brought to parliament if deemed applicable”.

    He was speaking at a conference aiming to reduce the number of human rights abuse cases filed against Turkey at the European court of human rights, including by conscientious objectors.

    via Turkey considers allowing conscientious objection to military service | World news | The Guardian.