Tag: military service

  • 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.

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    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.

  • Turkey Mulls Price of Military Service

    Turkey Mulls Price of Military Service

    By Joe Parkinson

    Turkey’s controversial monetary policy has caught the attention of many in the market as a creative, if risky, way to combat the economic crisis.

    Now Ankara is floating another potentially polarizing idea to help boost the coffers: allowing conscripted recruits to buy their way out of military service, en masse.

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    Associated Press

    A Turkish army officer in Ankara.

    Turkish media reported this week that the long-awaited proposal, which is yet to be finalized, would allow draftees to pay a lump sum to gain exemption from military service, which is compulsory for all healthy Turkish male citizens under 35 years old. The legislation would principally target draftees with families who are working in senior professional positions, or those who have spent significant time abroad, the media reports said.

    Finance Minister Simsek told reporters on Tuesday in Istanbul that an announcement on military service would be forthcoming, while Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said on Monday that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would announce details of the plan within two weeks.

    Estimates for how much exemption would cost, and how much it would raise, vary. Today’s Zaman, a government-friendly daily, reported on Monday that Ankara would charge $15,000 to sidestep military service. Government sources expected 100,000 male citizens to take advantage, raising some $1.5 billion, the newspaper said.

    The news comes after Mr. Erdogan said last week that his government was considering the introduction of paid military service as “a priority matter” and hoped to legislate before the end of the year.

    Political analysts said the measures would likely raise a significantly lower amount than government forecasts and warned it could seriously undermine morale.

    “The measure should generate around 500 million liras. But the main problem here is that it would be highly damaging to morale. It clearly discriminates against the poor. This will simply make more people go AWOL,” said Atilla Yesilada, analyst at Global Source Partners, an Istanbul-based research consultancy.

    “The government should completely professionalize the army – i don’t know what’s holding them back. They had several proposals like crack police force, special units serving under ministry of interior,” Mr. Yesilada said.

    Government ministers have stressed that conscription reforms would be motivated by “social realities” rather than financial pressure. Turkey’s economy outpaced China’s in the first half of the year to post the fastest growth of any Group of 20 economy. That growth has also brought some problems, with booming domestic demand propelling a current-account deficit forecast to top 9% of gross domestic product this year, leaving the economy exposed to external shocks.

    Data on Tuesday showed the current-account deficit widened to $6.8 billion in September, broadly in line with expectations, but significantly above the $4 billion gap recorded in August.

    Defence minister Ismet Yilmaz told state-run Anatolian News Agency last week that the government is seeking to rationalize the system, effectively charging for an amnesty from military service. “There are people who are over 35, 40 and even 45. Are we going to tear them apart from their families, children and jobs? Some of them could be abroad anyway. So, social realities are imposing such an arrangement,” he said.

    Turks who attempt to avoid military service can be forced to serve.

    Some analysts said the moves were driven more by ideology than economic considerations; specifically the ruling AK-party’s long-held goal of creating a professionalized military. Despite Turkey’s bloated budget deficit, its primary fiscal balances are in relatively rude health, posting a 30 billion lira surplus from January to October, according to the central bank.

    Mr. Erdogan’s ruling AK party, which has won three successive elections after sweeping to power on a landslide in 2002, has consistently chipped away at the military’s one-time dominance over popularly elected governments. In August the military’s top commanders resigned en masse in a dispute over the status of jailed officers. For decades it worked the other way round; governments resigned when the military was unhappy.

    Payouts to avoid service are not new for Turks — especially those who lived and worked abroad for a significant period – but the government’s proposals would increase Turkey-based draftees’ ability to avoid service.

    The last time Turkey introduced a paid military-service law was after two devastating earthquakes that ravaged the country’s northwest in August and November 1999. It exempted conscripts from military service in return for a payment and a basic training of four weeks.

    via Turkey Mulls Price of Military Service – Emerging Europe Real Time – WSJ.

  • 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.