Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Conscientious Objection in Turkey

Description and contents of the booklet

(15.05.2021) In Turkey, the first conscientious objectors publicly declared their objections in the early 1990s and stood up against war, the military and compulsory service. In the meantime, far more than 1,000 conscripts have declared their conscientious objections. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands have evaded military service, using other ways or hiding. Faced with prosecution, several hundred have sought asylum abroad. By now Turkey is the only member state in the Council of Europe that has not recognised the right to conscientious objection to military service.

This booklet is published 30 years after the first public declarations of conscientious objection. It takes stock, describes the solidarity work for the conscientious objection movement from abroad and gives a voice to conscientious objectors, some of whom were active in Turkey for years and have now gone into exile.

A publication to the International Day of Conscientious Objection in a quadrilingual online edition.

Download: https://www.Connection-eV.org/pdfs/conscientious-objection-turkey-2021.pdf

Conscientious Objection and Asylum

(15.05.2021) In the 1990s, several hundred conscripts from Turkey applied for asylum in Germany and other countries. They went public with their conscientious objection, made it clear in front of the Turkish consulate, at press conferences or on other occasions that they were not willing to serve in the Turkish military, especially in protest against the war then waged in southeast Turkey. In many cases, their applications were initially rejected by the authorities. In some cases, they actually succeeded in obtaining protection under refugee law. Quite often this outcome derived from the fact that they had to expect additional criminal prosecution because of their public conscientious objection.

Objection de conscience et Asile

(15.05.2021) Dans les années 1990, plusieurs centaines de conscrits de Turquie ont demandé l’asile en Allemagne et dans d’autres pays. Ils ont rendu publique leur objection de conscience. Ils l’ont clairement fait savoir, auprès du consulat de Turquie. Pendant des conférences de presse ou à d’autres occasions, ils ont exprimé qu’ils n’étaient pas disposés à servir dans l’armée turque, notamment, pour protester contre la guerre, alors en cours dans le Sud-Est de la Turquie. Dans de nombreux cas, leurs demandes ont été initialement rejetées par les autorités. Certains ont effectivement réussi à obtenir une protection en vertu du droit des réfugiés. La raison en était très souvent qu’ils devaient s’attendre à des poursuites pénales supplémentaires à cause de leur objection de conscience.

Vicdani Ret ve İltica Hakkı

(15.05.2021) Vicdani Ret ve İltica Hakkı1990 boyunca yüzlerce askerlik yükümlüsü Türkiye vatandaşı Almanya ve diğer ülkelere iltica başvurusunda bulundu. Vicdani redlerini Türkiye konsoloslukları önünde, basın toplantıları ve başka etkinlikler aracılığıyla deklare ettiler; özellikle Türkiye’nin güneydoğusunda o dönem devam etmekte olan savaş durumunu protesto etmek amacıyla Türkiye ordusunda hizmet etmek istemediklerini açıkça belirttiler. Bir çok durumda, iltica başvuruları yetkililer tarafından reddedildi. Bazı durumlarda ise, mülteci hukuku kapsamında sığınma elde etmeyi başardılar. Bu başarılı sığınma taleplerinde, çoğu zaman, kamusal olarak ilan ettikleri vicdanı redleri dolayısıyla beklenen cezai kovuşturmalar etkili oldu.