A group of lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) presented a new draft bill in Parliament on Monday for paid conscription options for people who avoided compulsory military service in the past.

If Parliament approves, thousands of people who eluded the compulsory service for various reasons will be able to enroll for paid conscription, which requires one month of basic training and payment of the conscription fee ($3,259 or TL 56,500 for 2022). Turkey had shortened compulsory military service to six months a few years ago and made the paid conscription service, limited only to a few people, permanent and available to the wider public. The move was a result of Turkey’s efforts to convert its army to a more professional one instead a force relying mostly on conscripts. Conscripts still have the option to extend their service and apply for military career jobs once they complete the six-month service.

Speaking to reporters on the bill on Monday, Mahir Ünal, acting group chair of the AK Party at Parliament, said the paid conscription option was part of a wider package of bills regulating the needs of the Ministry of National Defense, which oversees the army. The bill will also extend the term of the Chief of General Staff of the army.

Under the new bill, people previously ineligible for paid conscription, including those who skipped regular "checks" for eligibility for military service and those who did not join their military unit though they were summoned for military service, will be included in paid conscription quota.