Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Conscientious Objectors In Turkey Need Your Support to Continue Their Struggle

Newsletter March 2024

(11.03.2024) We are writing you once again inform you about our Conscientious Objection Watch donation campaign and ask for your support. As the Conscientious Objection Watch, we received many applications from conscientious objectors in 2023. In these applications, most of the objectors asked for information about the human rights violations and restrictions they experienced and requested support from our organization.

Substitute payment, denaturalisation, withdrawal and asylum

An overview

(06.02.2024) All male Turkish citizens are subject to compulsory military service, which in Turkey applies indefinitely, even though the law limits the age of military service from 20 to 41 years (Art.3a) (1). They are often unaware of the options for avoiding military service. Here we want to present the current status as of 2024. The conditions for replacement payment and deferment differ depending on whether you live in Turkey or abroad.

Joint Letter from conscientious objectors in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus to Erdoğan and Mitsotakis

(08.12.2023) “The mutual arms race, heavy military expenditures, and insistence on aggressive attitudes that antagonize Greece and Turkey serve as a significant factor hindering peace and cooperation,” conscientious objection organizations said in an open letter ahead of meeting of Erdoğan and Mitsotakis in Athens.

Turkey: Input for OHCHR - report on conscientious objection to military service 2023

(October 2023) This input to the situation of conscientious objectors in Turkey was submitted to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in October 2023.