Türkiye

Previous reports: 2023/24

Principal EBCO concerns

• No recognition of the right to conscientious objection. Prolonged violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, the ICCPR, and relevant rulings.

• Prosecution and punishment of conscientious objectors with interference to a wide range of human rights amounting to civil death, and repeated punishments in violation of ne bis in idem.

• Criminalisation of acts deemed to “alienate the public from military service.”

As reported by EBCO's Turkish member, the Conscientious Objection Watch:²

Developments

In 2024, conscientious objectors in Türkiye continued to face criminal cases. According to the database of the Conscientious Objection Watch, here are some examples about it:

Kamil Murat Demir was sentenced to 2 months in prison on a charge of being a "draft evader"; Mahmut Elkuş was sentenced to 1 year in prison, which had acquitted him twice before, on a charge of being an "evader"; Güney Akgün was sentenced to 2 months in prison twice on a charge of being a "draft evader", Oğuzhan Şahin was sentenced to 8 months in prison on a charge of being an "evader", Osman Görkem Eryılmaz was sentenced to 2 months in prison on the charge of being a “draft evader".

All violations and restrictions experienced in 2024 were also scrutinised by international human rights mechanisms. In the interim decision taken by the Committee of Ministers in June and the concluding observations of the United Nations Human Rights Committee in October, Türkiye's insistence on not recognising the right to conscientious objection was emphasised and the government was called to take urgent action regarding the right to conscientious objection.

Interim Resolution by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on Violations of the Right to Conscientious Objection in Türkiye

Eighteen years after the European Court of Human Rights issued its first judgment in favor of conscientious objector Osman Murat Ülke, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe added a new one to its interim decisions³ on violations of the right to conscientious objection in Türkiye. In its resolution of 13.06.2024, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recalled that the Turkish authorities continue to violate Articles 3 and 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, together with their persistence in not recognising the right to conscientious objection. In its resolution The Committee mentioned that deeply regrets “that three of the applicants in these cases (Osman Murat Ülke, Yunus Erçep and Ersin Ölgün) are still considered draft evaders and continue to face the threat of criminal and administrative proceedings as well as numerous restrictions on their daily lives that amounts to a situation of “civil death”.

In its interim decision, the Committee recalled that all necessary measures should be taken to ensure that all negative consequences of the violations faced by the Ülke Group applicants are swiftly remedied. It stated that it should be ensured that the applicants are no longer subjected to any prosecution as draft evaders and called on the Turkish authorities to take action in this regard.

Recalling that the Turkish authorities continued to refer to “paid military service” and the shortening of the duration of compulsory military service in their briefings to the Committee of Ministers, the Committee emphasised in its interim decision that paid military service is not an alternative to compulsory military service. Stating that domestic law is insufficient to deal with situations arising from the refusal of individuals to fulfill their military service for reasons of conscience, the Committee stated that the persistence of violations experienced by conscientious objectors shows the seriousness of the situation.

With its interim decision, the Committee of Ministers called on the Turkish authorities to provide information on the issues addressed in the Ülke Group of Cases by the end of March 2025.

UN Human Rights Committee Calls on Türkiye: Recognise the Right to Conscientious Objection

In August 2024 Conscientious Objection Watch submitted a comprehensive report for the 142nd session of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.⁴

The UN Human Rights Committee considered Türkiye's second periodic report and reports from different civil society organisations during its meetings in October and issued its concluding observations in a document on 7 November 2024.⁵

The Committee requested Türkiye to provide information by 8 November 2027 on the implementation of the recommendations made, particularly on the independence of the judiciary, the right to a fair trial in anti-terrorism procedures and freedom of association.

Conscientious Objection Watch sent a submission to the Human Rights Committee in October. The report provided comprehensive information on the violation of the right to conscientious objection and the current situation of conscientious objectors in Türkiye.

The submission of Conscientious Objection Watch, in particular the lack of any limitations on the number of sanctions imposed on conscientious objectors, the deprivation of some civil and political rights of conscientious objectors, and the abolition of Article 318 of the Penal Code, which criminalises ‘discouraging people from performing military service', were included in paragraphs 49 and 50 of the concluding observations published by the Committee.

Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review

Conscientious Objection Watch also prepared a submission for the 4th cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in October 2024.⁶ The report provides comprehensive information on the situation of conscientious objectors in Türkiye and includes recommendations to the government to recognise the right to conscientious objection and to eliminate violations of the rights of conscientious objectors.

Joint Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief

In October 2024 Conscientious Objection Watch, in collaboration with İnanç Özgürlüğü Girişimi and Norwegian Helsinki Committee submitted a report to the Special Rapporteur.⁷

Conscription provisions and procedures

Türkiye maintains a system of obligatory military service. According to Law No. 7179 (Law on Conscription⁸), all citizens defined as male at birth are obliged to serve from the beginning of the calendar year following their 20th birthday. The duration of military service is six months for cadets and twelve months for reserve officers and officers. According to the law, military service is compulsory for all men between the ages of 20 and 41, but for men who do not fulfill their military service before the age of 41, their obligation continues until they do so.

Since 2019, with the adoption of the Law on Conscription, shortened military service through payment of a sum of money has become permanently possible under the Turkish military service system. The amount to be paid for shortened military service varies each year.⁹ Under Article 9 of the Law on Conscription those who pay a certain sum that is determined by the Ministry of Defence and complete one month of basic military training will be considered to have completed their military service. However, shortened military service through payment is not an option in times of war and mobilisation. It is important to underline that everyone who opts for military service by payment must still perform basic military training for one month. This requires wearing of the uniform, obedience to orders, and all routine aspects of ordinary military service.

Conscientious objection provisions and procedures

Since the right to conscientious objection to military service is still not recognised, there is no mechanism to which conscientious objectors can apply, nor is there alternative civilian service. There are no mechanisms for conscientious objectors to seek recognition and there is no domestic remedy to seek redress and an end to the human rights violations they have been suffering. As the conscientious objectors are accepted as liable to compulsory military service and perceived as criminals, they are subjected to severe restrictions/deprivations of liberties and freedoms.

In the "Conscientious Objection To Military Service In Türkiye" report published by the Association for Conscientious Objection in 2021,¹⁰ a comprehensive database on administrative and legal proceedings against conscientious objectors in Türkiye was shared.¹¹

When conscientious objectors send a letter of application to the military branches stating that they cannot fulfil their military service obligations on account of being conscientious objectors they are sent a letter stating that under current legislation exemption from military service is not an option.

In a 2021 application for information to the Ministry of National Defence requesting information on how many persons applied to the Ministry seeking exemption as conscientious objectors between 2016-2020, the Ministry's response was that “there is no legal possibility to fulfil your request.”¹²

In addition, in 2020, in the lawsuit filed by conscientious objector Şendoğan Yazıcı against the rejection of his conscientious objection petition, it was revealed that the Ministry of National Defence General Directorate of Military Recruitment sent an order to all military recruitment regional directorates on June 17, 2020, stating that “Conscientious objection applications shall be answered negatively.”¹³

Voluntary recruitment

There is no voluntary recruitment into military service in Türkiye.

Conscientious objection during and after military service

According to the Law on Conscription, those who have left their unit or place where they were sent for duty without permission for more than six days are determined as “deserter”. If a conscripted soldier decides to declare his conscientious objection and leaves his military unit, he will be charged with “desertion”. According to the Military Penal Code, the penalty for desertion is imprisonment from 1 year to 3 years.¹⁴

Asylum for conscientious objectors

No information is available on the treatment of asylum seekers invoking fear of persecution on grounds of conscientious objection by the Turkish state.

On the other hand, there has been a marked increase in recent years in asylum applications from conscientious objectors from Türkiye to various European countries. One of the negative developments is related to conscientious objector Onur Erden. In 2006, while doing his military service, Erden deserted from the military. After, he was arrested several times, was subjected to torture in military prisons, following which he left Türkiye. In 2020, Onur Erden went to Germany and sought asylum there, but his asylum application was rejected by the administrative court in February 2024.¹⁵

Apart from this negative development, another conscientious objector, who was forced to leave Türkiye due to his circumstances of “civil death”, got asylum in France in February 2024 (requested to not be named due to security concerns). This is the second positive decision for a conscientious objector who applied for asylum in France due to the persecution he faced as a conscientious objector in Türkiye. Sidar Akdemir, another conscientious objector from Türkiye, got asylum from France last year.

Militarisation of the education system

In Türkiye, until 2012, "national security" lectures were taught by military officers from high school onwards. The soldiers, who sometimes came to schools in uniform, teached students on national security. However, in 2012, the national security lectures were abolished by a Council of Ministers Decree.¹⁶ Since the abolition of the lectures, some of the content of the course has been included in the "citizenship" course.

Following the coup attempt in Türkiye in 2015, military high schools were closed down with the Decree Law No. 669 published on 31 July 2016.¹⁷ Following this decision, it was decided to establish a new university under the Ministry of National Defence under the name of National Defence University.

In Türkiye, there are currently no national security lectures or courses taught by military professionals in the compulsory education curriculum. However, during the 12 years of compulsory education, it is possible to talk about practices aimed at raising “military awareness” or preparing children and young people for the military. For example, gendarmerie command trips organised for primary school students¹⁸,¹⁹ or “military profession introduction events” organised by army personnel in high schools.

1. Population and armed forces figures are derived from The Military Balance 2025, published by the international Institute for Strategic Studies; military expenditure figures are estimates published by SIPRI (The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) in April 2025. ⤴
2. More info about the organisation at: https://vicdaniret.org⤴
3. Ministers‘ Deputies, Interim Resolution CM/ResDH(2024)126. June 13, 2024. Ülke group v. Türkiye (Application n° 39437/98), https://search.coe.int/cm/eng?i=0900001680b05d3e⤴
4. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aVZVP_bWrIQt1PGG1JvLPTHKMSrWEwbK/view⤴
5. http://undocs.org/CCPR/C/TUR/CO/2⤴
6. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kVp8VZr9Tbp2tdOxbMyjFc6lbvkljv0J/view⤴
7. https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Sycd4PW6knE8pp-YBLa1qiyi_hp0pRk/view⤴
8. Law on Conscription [Askeralma Kanunu] No. 7179, 25 June, 2019 Official Gazette 30813, 26June 2019. https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/MevzuatMetin/1.5.7179.pdf⤴
9. The amount is redetermined based on civil servant increases and inflation data. For 2025, the latest amount set by the Ministry of National Defence was 243,13 TL (approximately 6000 EUR). https://www.msb.gov.tr/Askeralma/Duyuru/6ae6bc60928847aa925b61cc1b21adcd⤴
10. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OgQUzlHlEhMWZ_RfLfZRVnoniOo5_aIw/view⤴
11. Ibid. pp. 72-75.⤴
12. Application for information made by the author Mine Yildirim on 26 March 2021 request number 2101413343 and response sent on 30 March 2021.⤴
13. https://medyascope.tv/2020/12/08/yasa-cikmadi-milli-savunma-bakanligi-emirle-cozdu-vicdani-ret-dilekcelerine-olumsuz-cevap-verin/⤴
14. https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuatmetin/1.3.1632.pdf⤴
15. https://de.connection-ev.org/article-4075⤴
16. https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2012/01/20120125-6.htm⤴
17. https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2016/07/20160731-5.htm⤴
18. https://petrolilkokulu.meb.k12.tr/icerikler/il-jandarma-komutanligi-gezisi_15106145.html⤴
19. https://gaziemir.meb.gov.tr/www/fatih-ilkokulundan-sarnic-hava-teknik-okullar-komutanligi-ziyareti/icerik/2368⤴