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“The Defense Ministry will assess the issue of conscientous objectors,” Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin told reporters in Ankara. “It will be discussed and, if it is seen appropriate, it will be brought to Parliament agenda.”
Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz, responding to questions after Ergin’s remarks, said the government will examine examples from countries that provide legal protection for conscientous objectors.
The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has undertaken many drastic reforms to undermine military influence over politics since it first came to power in 2002 but has been reluctant to respond to calls for legal protection for conscientous objectors.
Military service is compulsory for all healthy men aged between 20-40 in Turkey. Those who refuse to fulfill their military service may face imprisonment for breaking laws. Turkey and Azerbaijan are the only two signatories of the European Convention on Human Rights that do not legalize conscientous exemption from military service
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