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Turkey: Whether there is a requirement for a minimum period of service for volunteer recruits in the military, and whether volunteer recruits of the armed forces face any restrictions in obtaining a discharge (July 2001 - April 2006)

In a 4 April 2006 telephone interview with the Research Directorate, the first secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Ottawa stated that there was no voluntary recruitment in the Turkish Armed Forces, as soldiers are either conscripts fulfilling their mandatory service, or professional soldiers, including "specialized sergeants."

According to a report on the Turkish military by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, professional soldiers are recruited by "special troop commando" units from among a pool of conscripts who have completed their military service and have volunteered to join (Netherlands July 2001, 8).

The lack of voluntary recruitment in Turkey was corroborated by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, which indicated that "[t]he Military Code provides for voluntary recruitment to some elements of the armed forces at a minimum age of 18, but the government has stated that this is not applied in practice" (2004).

The report goes on to state that

[a]dmission to military high schools and preparatory schools for non-commissioned officers is voluntary and requires parental consent. The minimum entrance age is 15 years, and students are permitted to leave at any time (Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers 2004).

According to the Defense and Foreign Affairs Handbook, in Turkey

[c]areer NCOs [non-commissioned officers] enter the Army upon graduation from secondary school. They are volunteers and enter on long-term enlistments (2002, 1740).

Regarding the voluntary recruitment of women by the Turkish army, the Website of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) indicated in 2005 that

[w]omen enter the Turkish Military on a voluntary basis. There is no conscription [for female] personnel. No formal planning has been made in terms of commencing to recruit women [as NCOs] or corporal-privates, because Turkey's manpower structure does not have any scarcity [of resources] regarding the male population.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. 2004. "Turkey." Child Soldiers Global Report 2004. <http://www.child-soldiers.org/document_get.php?id=933> [Accessed 4 Apr. 2006]

Defense and Foreign Affairs Handbook. 2002. 15th ed. "Turkey." Edited by Gregory R. Copley. Alexandria, Va.: International Strategic Studies Association.

The Netherlands. July 2001. Directorate for Movements of Persons, Migration and Consular Affairs, Asylum and Migration Division. Turkey/Military Service. <http://www.ecoi.net/pub/ms59/neth-tur0701.pdf> [Accessed 6 Apr. 2006]

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). 2005. Committee on Women in NATO Forces. "Turkey." <http://www.nato.int/ims/2005/win/national_reports/turkey.pdf> [Accessed 4 Apr. 2006]

Turkey. 4 April 2006. Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Ottawa. Telephone interview with the First Secretary.

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet Sites, including: Amnesty International (AI), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Ottawa, European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), Factiva, Global March Against Child Labour, Human Rights Association of Turkey, Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), Middle East Times [Nicosia], Ministry of National Defense of Turkey (inaccessible), Turkish Armed Forces (inaccessible), Turkish Daily News [Ankara], United States Department of State, War Resisters' International (WRI).