Turkey extends military service to contain Covid-19 spread 

Turkey has extended its mandatory military service for its male citizens only, and delayed the intake of new conscripts in an effort to prevent the spread the coronavirus Covid-19, Al Jazeera has reported.

Soldiers serving their required six months were expected to be discharged this month but their return to civilian life will be delayed by at least a month. Defence Minister Hulusi Akar added that this year’s first conscription intake, due to join up this month, has been postponed.

“Despite the measures we have taken,” explained the minister, “we see that mustering out and conscription constitute a risk for our soldiers, society and the Turkish Armed Forces.”

The decision is expected to have an impact on around 55,000 citizens who would have been conscripted this month and another 66,000 who were due to complete their service. The real impact is likely to be much wider, though, perhaps affecting as many as 500,000 people, given that many service personnel are accompanied on postings by their families.

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Compulsory military service in Turkey has changed under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Last year he cut men’s conscription period in half, and made paid military service permanent. Upon completing six months of service, if a conscripted soldier wishes to extend their military service, and is deemed suitable, they may do so for an additional six months in return for a monthly salary of 2,000 Turkish Liras (about $347).

Yesterday, Ankara confirmed 115 more deaths from the novel coronavirus over the previous 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 1,518. The number of registered Covid-19 cases surged to 69,392.

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