Minister of National Defence declared that conscientious objection was not in Turkey's agenda
Minister of National Defense İsmet Yılmaz declared that conscientious objection was not part of Turkey's agenda. The only regulation about conscientious objection that is being currently discussed is, according to İsmet Yılmaz, "the reduction of the recurring prison sentence for the conscientious objectors to one, single reasonable sentence". The Minister indicated that Turkey's obligation to make a regulation compatible to the ruling of European Court of Human Rights is ultimately to replace the recurring prison sentence the conscientous objectors get with a "reasonable" single sentence. According to the Minister's account, there still won't be a recognition of the right to conscientious objection in Turkey. The Minister of National Defence had also informed before, that the compulsory military service were not going away. İsmet Yılmaz also told to expect announcement from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the specifics of the shortened military service by payment.
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"No conscientious objection in Turkey's agenda"