Military Service in Turkey for New Citizens and Dual Nationals: Who Is Exempt

Military service in Turkey (Türkiye) is compulsory for every male Turkish citizen, including those who became citizens later and those who hold another nationality (Conscription Law No. 7179, Art. 2). But a man who acquires Turkish citizenship is treated as having completed military service if he was aged 22 or older in the year he was naturalised, or if he documents that he already served, or is deemed to have served, in his country of origin (Art. 43(1)). Younger naturalised citizens serve like others of their age, and may have service postponed for two years on request. Dual nationals living abroad can discharge the obligation by a payment in foreign currency without serving (Art. 39).

Military service is the question most often asked by men applying for Turkish citizenship — by investment, marriage or residence — and by families whose sons will become citizens with them. This guide explains who is liable, the exemption for naturalised citizens and its limits, the options for dual nationals abroad, paid service, and the consequences of ignoring the obligation.

• Who: every male citizen of the Republic of Türkiye (Art. 2). Women are not liable.
• Military age: from 1 January of the year a man turns 20 to 1 January of the year he turns 41 (Art. 3).
• Length: six months for privates and corporals; twelve months for reserve officers and reserve non-commissioned officers (Art. 5).
• Naturalised at 22 or older: deemed to have served (Art. 43(1)).
• Served at home: deemed to have served, on documentary proof (Art. 43(1)).
• Naturalised younger: two-year postponement on request (Art. 43(1)).
• Not covered: those who acquire citizenship later on the basis of descent (Art. 43(3)).
• Abroad: foreign-currency payment option for workers and for dual nationals with at least three years abroad (Art. 39).

Legal status of this guide. It reflects the Conscription Law (No. 7179) as amended up to April 2026. The amounts payable for paid service and foreign-currency service are calculated from a statutory index and the civil-service coefficient and change twice a year; they are not stated here. Procedures are set by the Ministry of National Defence. Last updated: October 2026.

In this guide

• Who is liable
• Naturalised citizens: the Article 43 rule
• Worked examples
• Citizens by descent and returning citizens
• Dual nationals living abroad
• Service in another country and bilateral agreements
• Paid military service
• Postponement
• Not reporting: consequences
• What to do after naturalisation
• Frequently asked questions

Who is liable

The Conscription Law applies to every male who is a citizen of the Republic of Türkiye (Art. 2). How citizenship was acquired — by birth, descent, marriage, investment, residence or exceptional decision — makes no difference to the starting point, and neither does holding another nationality. The Law defines "multiple citizenship" as a Turkish citizen holding more than one citizenship at the same time (Art. 3), and deals with it through specific options rather than a general exemption.

Military age begins on 1 January of the year in which a man turns twenty according to the civil registry and ends on 1 January of the year in which he turns forty-one (Art. 3). It is divided into three periods: the call-up examination (yoklama), active service and the reserve (Art. 5). The length of active service is six months for privates and corporals and twelve months for reserve officers and reserve non-commissioned officers; the President may extend or shorten it within limits, but not below six months.

Women are not subject to compulsory service. A woman who acquires Turkish citizenship has no military obligation, and neither do daughters who become citizens with their parents.

Naturalised citizens: the Article 43 rule

Article 43(1) governs "those who acquire Turkish citizenship later". Its sentences are worth reading one by one.

1. The general rule. Those who acquire Turkish citizenship later perform their military service according to their age and educational status on the date they acquired citizenship, like the conscripts who enter military age that year.
2. The two exemptions. Those who document that, before being admitted to Turkish citizenship, they performed military service in the country they came from or are deemed to have fulfilled it; and those who were aged 22 or older in the year they were admitted to citizenship, are deemed to have performed military service.
3. Postponement. For those not exempt, military service is postponed, on their request, for two years from the date of admission to citizenship.
4. After the postponement. In the year the postponement ends they undergo the call-up examination and are processed with those born in the year that enters military age that year.
5. Mobilisation. These persons may be called up according to need in the event of mobilisation.

The age test

The test looks at the year of admission to citizenship and the person's age in that year. A man naturalised in the year in which he is, or turns, 22 or older is within the exemption. The decisive date is the date citizenship was actually granted — the decision — not the date of the application. An application filed at 21 and decided two years later is assessed at the age on decision.

For a family applying together, this produces different results for each member. A father aged 45 is exempt. A son aged 23 at the decision is exempt. A son aged 19 is not: he is treated like other men of his age, with a two-year postponement available.

The prior-service test

A younger man is exempt if he documents that he has done military service in his country of origin, or is deemed there to have fulfilled it. The second limb covers lawful substitutes recognised by that country — an official exemption, alternative civilian service, a buy-out — provided the home state's documents say that the obligation is treated as discharged. A country that has no conscription issues no such document, and men from those countries rely on the age test instead.

The proof is an official document from the competent authority of the home state, legalised by apostille or consular certification and translated, submitted to the military service office (askerlik şubesi).

The reservation for mobilisation

The exemption concerns peacetime compulsory service. The Law expressly keeps open the possibility of calling up naturalised citizens in a mobilisation according to need. This is a general feature of citizenship, not a special burden.

Worked examples

The following are hypothetical illustrations of how the rule operates.

Situation at the date citizenship is granted	Result under Art. 43
Investor aged 38	Deemed to have served. No obligation in peacetime.
Husband of a Turkish citizen, aged 27	Deemed to have served.
Student aged 21 who completed twelve months' conscription at home	Deemed to have served, on producing the home-country certificate.
Son aged 20, no prior service	Liable. May request a two-year postponement, then is processed with the year group entering military age; student postponements may also be available.
Son aged 16, naturalised with his parents	Not yet of military age. On reaching it he is liable like other citizens of his age; the age-22 exemption does not apply because he was under 22 in the year of naturalisation.
Man aged 21 at application, 22 in the year of the decision	Deemed to have served: the year of admission decides.

Families with sons approaching military age sometimes consider the timing of the application for this reason. That is a legitimate planning question, to be weighed against everything else that depends on timing — schooling, the validity of the investment, the parents' own status.

Citizens by descent and returning citizens

Two groups are outside the favourable rule.

• Those who later acquire Turkish citizenship on the basis of descent cannot benefit from Article 43 (Art. 43(3)). A man born abroad to a Turkish mother or father is a Turkish citizen from birth, even if his birth was registered with the Turkish authorities only years later. When he completes the registration at 30, he is not "naturalised at 22 or older": he has been a citizen all along and is treated as a conscript of his birth year who has not reported. See our guide to how children acquire Turkish citizenship.
• Those who lost Turkish citizenship and reacquire it. Their military position is handled by taking account of their previous military history under the provisions that fit their situation (Art. 43(2)).

Men in the first group should look at the options for citizens living abroad before registering, not after.

Dual nationals living abroad

Article 39 allows citizens abroad to be treated as having completed military service without serving — "foreign-currency service" (dövizle askerlik).

Workers abroad

Those who, in foreign countries recognised by Turkey, hold a residence permit that includes a work permit, or a work permit directly — obtained otherwise than through an asylum application — as an employee, employer or member of a profession or trade, or who work as seafarers on foreign-flagged vessels under an employment contract, qualify if they:

• have actually worked for at least three years, not counting time spent in Turkey;
• complete the distance-learning course provided by the Ministry;
• apply through the Turkish consulate with documents proving their status; and
• pay, at the time of application and in a lump sum, the foreign-currency equivalent of the amount calculated from the statutory index.

Dual nationals and those born abroad

Those who reside abroad and hold multiple citizenship, and those who were born abroad, reside abroad and hold a permanent residence permit there, benefit on the same basis without the employment condition, provided they have actually been in foreign countries for at least three years (Art. 39(2)).

Who is excluded

The option is not available, and an accepted application is cancelled, for those who (Art. 39(3)): do not make the payment; have their wages or salary transferred from within Turkey; are abroad on official duty; have already begun actual service in another status; obtained their residence or work permit abroad through asylum; made the application with forged documents or false statements; or are later found not to meet a condition.

A refund is made to those whose application is cancelled or not completed. No refund is made after the procedure is complete to those who then ask to leave the scheme, become unfit, die, are permitted to renounce Turkish citizenship or lose it.

For a Turkish citizen by descent who grew up abroad with another passport, this is the standard route: three years' actual presence abroad, the online course, the consular application and the payment. It does not require travelling to Turkey.

Service in another country and bilateral agreements

For citizens who are not naturalised — and therefore outside Article 43 — service performed in another country counts only where an agreement provides for it. The procedures for those to be exempted or postponed under bilateral agreements on the recognition of military service performed in one of the two countries are carried out under the agreement (Art. 45(1)). Turkey has such agreements with a number of states. Whether an agreement covers your second country, and on what conditions — usually habitual residence there — must be checked individually.

Turkish citizens who document that they completed compulsory military service under the laws of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are deemed to have served (Art. 44).

Paid military service

Within Turkey, "paid military service" (bedelli askerlik) allows a conscript who is willing and fit for service to be treated as having completed it by paying a sum calculated from a statutory index figure and completing one month of basic military training (Art. 9). The number of places is set by the Ministry according to the armed forces' needs; if applicants exceed the places, selection is by lot, and a person selected who withdraws is not given a further right.

The index figure was raised by an amendment of April 2026, and the amount in lira changes with the civil-service coefficient every six months. Payment must be made in a lump sum before call-up. Paid service is the route used by most young naturalised citizens who are liable and resident in Turkey: one month of training instead of six months.

Postponement

• Naturalisation postponement: two years from the date of admission to citizenship, on request (Art. 43(1)).
• Education: service is postponed for students up to age limits that depend on the level of study.
• Health, detention and conviction: the procedures of those found temporarily unfit, and of those detained or serving a sentence, are postponed (Art. 20).
• Living abroad: citizens working or residing abroad with the required status can have service postponed up to a set age through the consulate, which is what keeps the foreign-currency option open.

Postponement is not automatic. It must be requested and documented in time; a person entitled to postponement who simply does nothing appears in the system as a draft evader, even though the Law spares such a person the fine for the days covered by the entitlement (Art. 24(2)).

Not reporting: consequences

The Law distinguishes those who fail to attend the call-up examination, those who go into hiding, and those who are due to be dispatched but do not report or do not join their unit (bakaya).

• Administrative fine. In peacetime, those in these categories without an acceptable excuse are fined for each day of evasion, at a lower daily rate if they report voluntarily and a higher one if apprehended; the amounts are revalued annually and must be paid within one month of notification (Art. 24).
• Criminal liability. Continued evasion after the administrative stage can lead to prosecution under military criminal law.
• Practical effects. The status is visible in identity checks and at passport control. An evader can be taken to the military service office, and evasion affects employment in Turkey, since employers are restricted from employing evaders.
• Sentences. A person sentenced to imprisonment is handed to the prosecution; on release he is notified to report to the military service office within fifteen days, and is treated as an evader if he does not (Art. 36).

Military obligations cannot be escaped by renouncing citizenship at will: permission to renounce is granted on conditions, and unresolved military status is among the matters examined. The grounds on which citizenship can be lost are covered in our guide to revocation and cancellation of Turkish citizenship, and the status of former citizens in our guide to the Blue Card.

Applying for Turkish citizenship with sons near military age, or registering as a citizen by descent? Tell us each family member's date of birth, the route to citizenship and any service already done. Message Yayla Law on WhatsApp or use the contact form.

What to do after naturalisation

1. Check your status. Once the citizenship decision is registered and you have an identity number, your military status appears on the e-Devlet portal. It should show "deemed to have served" or the equivalent for those within the exemptions.
2. If it does not, apply to the military service office of the place where you are registered with your identity card, the citizenship decision and, where relevant, the legalised and translated home-country service certificate.
3. If you are liable, request the two-year postponement in writing promptly, and during it decide between ordinary service, paid service or, if you live abroad, the foreign-currency option.
4. Students should make sure the university's enrolment is reflected in the system as an education postponement.
5. Keep the document showing your status. Employers in Turkey ask male employees for it.
6. If the office refuses to apply the exemption — for instance in a dispute about the year of admission or the sufficiency of a foreign certificate — the decision is an administrative act that can be challenged in the administrative court.

The routes to citizenship themselves are explained in our guides to citizenship by investment, citizenship by marriage and citizenship by residence.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to do military service if I get Turkish citizenship?

Not if you were aged 22 or older in the year citizenship was granted, or if you can document that you served, or are deemed to have served, in your country of origin. Otherwise you are liable like other men of your age.

Does citizenship by investment exempt me from military service?

The route makes no difference. The exemption depends on your age in the year of naturalisation or on prior service, not on how citizenship was obtained.

My son will be 19 when we become citizens. Will he have to serve?

He will be liable. He can request a two-year postponement from the date of naturalisation, and later use an education postponement, paid service or, if he lives abroad, the foreign-currency option.

I already served in my home country. Is that recognised?

Yes for naturalised citizens, on producing an official, legalised and translated certificate that you served or are deemed to have fulfilled the obligation.

Do dual citizens have to serve in the Turkish army?

Dual nationality is not an exemption in itself. Dual nationals who live abroad and have been abroad for at least three years can discharge the obligation by a foreign-currency payment and an online course, without serving.

I was born abroad to a Turkish parent and never registered. Am I exempt as a new citizen?

No. You are a citizen by descent from birth, and the rule for naturalised citizens does not apply to those who acquire citizenship later on the basis of descent. The foreign-currency option is usually the relevant route.

How long is military service in Turkey?

Six months for privates and corporals and twelve months for reserve officers. With paid service it is one month of basic training.

Do women have to serve?

No. The Conscription Law applies to male citizens only.

What happens if I ignore the call-up?

You are recorded as an evader, fined for each day, and may face prosecution if evasion continues. The status appears in identity and passport checks and affects employment in Turkey.

Legal basis and sources

• Conscription Law No. 7179, Articles 2, 3, 5, 9, 20, 24, 36, 39 and 43–45 — official consolidated text at mevzuat.gov.tr.
• Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901 — mevzuat.gov.tr.
• Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye, Article 72.
• Ministry of National Defence, conscription services — msb.gov.tr.

This article provides general legal information on Turkish law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. Individual military status should be confirmed with the military service office before relying on an exemption.