Under the Military Service Law, Law No. 7179, a man who misses his examination year becomes yoklama kaçağı and one who ignores a call up becomes bakaya. Both pay a daily administrative fine under Article 24, revalued every year and doubled if apprehended. Prison of up to three years under Article 63 of Law No. 1632 applies only if evasion recurs after that fine is final. Men abroad can defer until the end of the year they turn 35, or settle through dövizle askerlik after three years abroad: 472,653.60 Turkish Lira, paid in euros at the daily rate, for payments from 1 July to 31 December 2026.
For many Turkish men raised in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands or the United States, military service becomes a real question only when a family visit to Türkiye is booked. The law has not removed conscription for citizens abroad; it offers them consular deferment, service in foreign currency, paid service and, after renunciation, the Blue Card. The amounts changed twice in 2026: Law No. 7577 of 2 April 2026 raised the indicator for paid and foreign currency service from 240,000 to 300,000 from 17 April 2026, and the salary coefficient was reset on 1 July 2026, so payments between 1 July and 31 December 2026 are based on 472,653.60 Turkish Lira. This article explains, under the Military Service Law, Law No. 7179, and the Military Penal Code, Law No. 1632, what each status means, when a fine becomes a criminal case, what happens at the border and which route fits whom.
Under Articles 2 and 4 of Law No. 7179, every male Turkish citizen must serve. The obligation follows citizenship, not the passport used for travel: a man born in Cologne to a Turkish parent is usually a Turkish citizen by birth and a liable person, yükümlü, even if he never lived in Türkiye. Military age runs from 1 January of the year he turns 20 to 1 January of the year he turns 41 (Article 3). The examination, yoklama, a medical and administrative fitness assessment, is due in the year he enters military age (Article 14), at the military branch, askerlik şubesi, at a consulate abroad or through e-Devlet (Article 19). Service lasts six months for privates and 12 months for reserve officers (Article 5). The obligation does not lapse at 41: under Article 5(11), nobody leaves military age without having served or being deemed to have served.
Article 21 of Law No. 7179 sorts men who miss their procedures without a documented legal excuse into statuses. A yoklama kaçağı, an evader of the examination, had no yoklama in the year it was due; for men born abroad this is usually the first status, arising simply because that year ended with nothing on file. A saklı, a man concealed from the register, turned 20 before being entered in the Turkish civil registry, typically because his birth abroad was registered only in adulthood. A bakaya, a man in arrears, was called up but did not arrange his dispatch or join his unit. Under Article 27, call up announcements on national television, the Ministry of National Defence website and e-Devlet count as notification.
| Status | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Yoklama kaçağı or saklı | Daily fine; if apprehended, examined and called up later, or deferred if entitled (Article 21(2)) |
| Bakaya | Daily fine; if apprehended as a private, dispatched immediately unless a legal excuse applies (Article 21(4)) |
| Evasion again after a final fine | Criminal file to the prosecutor; prison under Article 63 of Law No. 1632 |
| Deferred abroad | No fine; until the end of the year of the 35th birthday at the latest (Article 38) |
| Dövizle or bedelli askerlik completed | Deemed to have served; file closed (Articles 9 and 39) |
| Unfit for service | Not taken into service once the health board report is approved (Articles 15(6) and 16) |
| Blue Card holder | No military obligation (Article 28(2) of Law No. 5901) |
The health route for men abroad is covered in our guide to military service exemption for dual citizens on health grounds.
Article 24(1) imposes a fine for every day of evasion from the date the status began. The statutory base is 5 Turkish Lira per day for a man who comes forward and 10 Turkish Lira if he is apprehended, set in 2019 and increased every year by the revaluation rate under Article 17(7) of the Law on Misdemeanours, Law No. 5326; the 2026 rates are many times the base, and the reliable figure is the one on the fine notice. A man who was yoklama kaçağı from 20 to 30 is fined for about 3,650 days, and apprehension doubles the rate. The fine is payable within one month, after which the tax office collects it under Law No. 6183 (Article 17 of Law No. 5326).
Article 24(2) excludes men found unfit or entitled to exemption and, for the days matching their entitlement, men who had a right to deferment but did not apply; Article 101(3) of the Military Service Regulation of 22 July 2020 cancels fines already imposed in these cases. For a dual citizen who lived abroad throughout, this is often the strongest argument, proved with residence records and passports. A fine can be challenged before the criminal judgeship of peace, sulh ceza hakimliği, within 15 days of service (Article 27 of Law No. 5326); see our article on objection to administrative fines. Unchallenged, the fine becomes final, which matters for section 4.
A first episode leads to a fine, not a prosecution. Under Article 24(4) of Law No. 7179 and Article 63(1) of Law No. 1632, it becomes a crime only where, in peacetime, the man falls into evasion again after the fine is final, without an excuse listed in Article 23 (such as his own detention or illness, or a death, wedding or birth in the close family around the dispatch date). The typical case is a man fined as yoklama kaçağı who is called up and does not report.
| When He Appears | Prison: Comes Forward / Apprehended |
|---|---|
| Within four months | Up to six months / two to six months |
| Four months to one year | Two months to one year / four months to one year |
| After one year | Four months to two years / six months to three years |
Ordinary criminal courts hear these cases (Additional Article 19 of Law No. 1632). Article 63 is not among the purely military offences listed in Additional Article 11, so the limits on suspension and deferral of the verdict for purely military offences do not in principle apply. A term of two years or less may be suspended under Article 51 of the Turkish Penal Code, Law No. 5237, one of a year or less converted into a judicial fine under Article 50, and the verdict's announcement deferred under Article 231 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Law No. 5271. None of this is automatic, and a conviction does not complete the military obligation.
Under Article 41(2) of Law No. 7179, yoklama kaçağı and bakaya may not be employed in public or private service, and an employer who hires them faces a criminal complaint. Students who have used up their deferment have their enrolment at Turkish schools frozen (Article 41(1)). An open file also blocks renunciation of citizenship (section 11).
Article 38 allows deferment abroad, yurt dışı erteleme, for men holding a residence permit with a work permit, seafarers on foreign flagged ships, and dual citizens living abroad, who need no work. Refugees, asylum seekers, men without a permit and holders of a student permit alone do not qualify (Article 63 of the Regulation). The first application is made in person at the consulate, booked through konsolosluk.gov.tr, and renewals may go by post (Article 67). A man already yoklama kaçağı can still apply and is deferred without an examination (Article 21(2) of the Law). Deferment lasts until the end of the year he turns 35 and is cancelled if he spends 184 days or more of a calendar year in Türkiye (Article 38(2); Article 65 of the Regulation) or loses his permit. Students instead use the education deferment of Article 20, up to the end of the year they turn 28 for recognised higher education.
Dövizle askerlik, service in foreign currency, is often searched for as the "Turkish military service exemption fee", but it is not an exemption: under Article 39 of Law No. 7179, a man who qualifies and pays is deemed to have served, with no training in uniform.
A man with a work and residence permit not obtained through asylum must have worked abroad for at least three years, excluding time in Türkiye (Article 39(1)). A dual citizen living abroad, or a man born and living abroad with permanent residence, needs only three years of presence abroad, without work (Article 39(2)). The Regulation counts 1,095 days and, for dual citizens, only time in the country of the second nationality (Article 73). The remote course at dovizle.msb.gov.tr must be completed first. A yoklama kaçağı or bakaya record does not exclude the scheme; having started service in another form does (Article 39(3)). Fines for the evasion period remain payable unless section 3.2 applies.
The Law fixes no euro figure. The Article 9 indicator is multiplied by the civil service salary coefficient and the lira result is converted into euros, or another convertible currency, at the Central Bank buying rate on the payment day. Consulates have announced 472,653.60 Turkish Lira for 1 July to 31 December 2026, after 333,089.04 Turkish Lira until the amendment and 416,361.30 Turkish Lira from 17 April to 30 June. The euro amount therefore changes daily, a transfer charge is added and the base is recalculated every January and July. Payment is made in full at the consulate with all passports, the foreign citizenship or birth certificate and residence or work records for the period. Nothing is refunded after a later renunciation (Article 39(4)).
Bedelli askerlik, paid service, is open at any age to men found fit who have not started service: they pay in advance and complete one month of basic training in Türkiye (Article 9; Article 61 of the Regulation). It uses the same indicator and coefficient, so it is also 472,653.60 Turkish Lira for payments from 1 July to 31 December 2026 and changes twice a year. A man with any yoklama kaçağı, saklı or bakaya past pays an additional amount, ek bedel, of 3,500 indicator points times the coefficient per month of that status, about 5,514 Turkish Lira per month in the second half of 2026 (Article 9(7)). He must apply at a military branch, in person or through a spouse, close relative or attorney (Article 61(3) of the Regulation), so a power of attorney given abroad lets someone file for him, and he must pay within two months or lose the right (Article 9(6)).
On turkiye.gov.tr, the Ministry of National Defence "Askerliğim" services include Askerlik Durum Belgesi Sorgulama, a barcoded certificate of current status; a consulate can issue the e-Devlet password. If the record shows yoklama kaçağı or bakaya, obtain the fine history from the military branch, since the starting dates drive both the fine and the bedelli additional amount, and check whether an old deferment was cancelled or a foreign nationality is missing. Errors are corrected on documents and are best corrected before travelling.
An open military file is not a travel ban. Article 23 of the Constitution allows a citizen's exit to be restricted only by a judge in criminal proceedings and forbids refusing a citizen entry, and Article 22 of the Passport Law, Law No. 5682, does not list military status; the difference between an entry ban and an exit ban is explained separately. The risk is apprehension: under Article 26 of Law No. 7179, evaders are reported to the Ministry of Interior for apprehension, and the record can surface at border checks. During working hours the man is taken to the nearest military branch; outside them, or where there is no branch, he is released against a police report, and the fine is charged at the higher rate. A foreign passport does not change this.
An apprehended yoklama kaçağı is deferred if entitled, or examined and called up later. A bakaya in private status is dispatched immediately unless a legal excuse applies (Article 21(4)), so the online claim that evaders "are no longer sent to the army" is only partly true. One safety valve exists: under Article 63(7) of the Regulation, a yoklama kaçağı or bakaya in Türkiye who proves a residence or work permit abroad is deferred for three months, once only and at any age, which in practice gives time to return and regularise through the consulate. The safest course is to travel with the status already settled, carrying the deferment certificate, proof of dövizle askerlik or the discharge certificate, terhis belgesi.
Article 25 of the Turkish Citizenship Law, Law No. 5901, allows a renunciation permit, çıkma izni, only for an applicant with another citizenship who is not wanted for an offence or for military service and has no financial or criminal restriction. Consulates read this as requiring service to be deferred, performed, deemed performed or exempted, so an evader must regularise first: under 35 usually by deferment abroad, over 35 by dövizle or bedelli askerlik or a medical decision. One consulate indicates 8 to 12 months for processing. See our article on renouncing Turkish citizenship; our Turkish citizenship practice handles renunciation and the military file together.
A man Turkish by birth who renounced with permission, and his descendants to the third degree, can hold the Blue Card, Mavi Kart, and under Article 28(2) have no obligation to serve; see our guide to the Mavi Kart. But under Article 43(2) of Law No. 7179 and Article 90(6) of the Regulation, a man who later reacquires Turkish citizenship continues from his military status on the date of loss, so one who renounced while only deferred can find his obligation revived, as discussed in our article on Blue Card holders and reacquiring citizenship.
A first episode leads only to a daily fine under Article 24 of Law No. 7179. It becomes a crime under Article 63 of Law No. 1632 if evasion recurs after that fine is final.
Not as a criminal suspect for a first episode, but you can be taken to the nearest military branch during working hours, or released against a police report outside them (Article 26 of Law No. 7179).
A bakaya in private status can be dispatched immediately unless a legal excuse or the once only three month deferment for men with a foreign residence permit applies. A yoklama kaçağı is examined and called up later.
No. Under Article 5(11) of Law No. 7179, nobody leaves military age without having served or being deemed to have served.
The base for payments from 1 July to 31 December 2026 is 472,653.60 Turkish Lira, paid in euros at the Central Bank buying rate on the payment day, plus a transfer charge.
472,653.60 Turkish Lira for payments from 1 July to 31 December 2026, plus about 5,514 Turkish Lira per month spent as yoklama kaçağı, saklı or bakaya.
Yes, if he meets the three year condition and has not started service in another form. His fines remain payable unless Article 24(2) excludes them.
No. A dual citizen living abroad needs 1,095 days of presence in the country of his other nationality, with no work requirement (Article 39(2)).
Yes, if you stay under 184 days in each calendar year; the deferment ends at the latest at the end of the year you turn 35.
Fifteen days from service, before the criminal judgeship of peace under Article 27 of Law No. 5326. After that the fine is final.
Only after your status is regularised, because Article 25 of Law No. 5901 bars men wanted for military service. Afterwards the Blue Card carries no military obligation.
No, an administrative fine is not a conviction. A judgment under Article 63 can be, unless the announcement of the verdict is deferred.
Military status rarely improves with time: the daily fine grows and doubles on apprehension, evasion after a final fine is a crime under Article 63 of Law No. 1632, and a bakaya caught in Türkiye can be dispatched at once. Yet Law No. 7179 gives men abroad real routes: deferment until 35, dövizle askerlik after three years abroad on 472,653.60 Turkish Lira for payments in the second half of 2026, bedelli askerlik with one month of training and, once the file is clean, renunciation with the Blue Card.
The right route depends on your age, residence abroad, second nationality and what your record shows. To have your status, fine history and options reviewed before your next trip, our legal team can examine the record and handle the steps with the consulate and the military branch.
