Turkish PM dashes hopes of thousands awaiting paid military service
by Daily Sabah
ISTANBULOct 17, 2014 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah
Oct 17, 2014 12:00 am
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has put an end to the discussions of whether the government will issue a regulation over paid military service saying the current conjecture was not apt for carrying out such a practice.
After some of the ministers brought up the issue of paid military service leading to numerous discussions, Davutoğlu, made the final announcement over the matter in a statement that dashed hopes of thousands awaiting a regulation over paid military service.
"It is not fair that the poor does military service whereas the wealthy skips it by making payment." Davutoğlu was quoted as saying.
Thousands of men were offered a glimmer of hope as some ministers hinted of a government plan to issue a bill over paid military service three years after the previous one.
Three years ago, the ruling party opened the way for payment to be accepted in lieu of military service in a bid to address the demands of tens of thousands of men over the age of 29 who hadn't yet completed their compulsory military service. The temporary bill allowed men over 29 to pay TL 30,000 to be exempt from their military service. When the long-awaited bill was introduced in 2011, Erdoğan said: "We have two major aims in passing a law on paying to be exempt from military service. The first one is decreasing the number of absentees and people who defer their military service, which has risen. Second, we aim to accomplish some very important social services through this law."
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