CO Day 2021: Conscientious Objection in Turkey

On this page, you are able to find a number of useful resources on conscientious objection in Turkey. We will continue to update this page during April and May with new content and resources. 

Reports and articles

Read a short report, 'Turkey: Prosecution of Conscientious Objectors', by Connection e.V. giving background on the situation of conscientious objectors in Turkey here.

Read Conscientious Objection Association -Turkey (VR-DER)'s recent publication, Conscientious Objection Bulletin. See here for the December issue and here the February issue.

See here the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers' decision in June 2020 urging Turkey to recognise the rights of conscientious objectors. See a joint report submitted to the Committee of Ministers by a number of organisations including WRI here.

Video reports by conscientious objectors in Turkey

See here a short video report on conscientious objectors in Turkey here (with English subtitles): https://youtu.be/vLkw9hOf7zE

See here a video by Conscientious Objection Association (VR-DER) released on International Conscientious Objection Day last year. 

Video statements (with English subtitles) by a number of conscientious objectors from Turkey

• An interview with conscientious objector Inan Mayis Aru by Vicdani Ret Dernegi
• An interview with conscientious objector Kamil Murat Demir by Vicdani Ret Dernegi
• An interview with conscientious objector Davut Erkan by Vicdani Ret Dernegi
• An interview with conscientious objector Murat Demiroğlu by Vicdani Ret Dernegi
• Merve Arkun, Turkey: Conscientious objection: anti-war action and rejection of male-dominated codes
• Ercan Aktaş, Turkey/France: I came to France in October 2017 and never returned
• Halil Savda, Turkey/Cyprus: I dream of a nonviolent and free world
• Hüseyin Civan, Turkey: I reject conscription and war as an antimilitarist and anarchist
• Beran Mehmet İşçi, Turkey/Germany: My asylum case as conscientious objector is regarded as non-political