The application period for the dowry account, one of the election promises made by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), started Monday. According to the rules of the dowry account program, which concerns people who marry for the first time before the age of 27, the government will grant up to 20 percent of the amount of money that young people save in their dowry accounts. Turkish citizens or blue card holders can take advantage of the practice provided that they marry before the age of 27.Those who wish to take advantage of a dowry account savings plan may apply to any Turkish bank with their identity card and open a Turkish lira-denominated deposit account or participation fund account. Individuals under the age of 18 may open a dowry account under the guardianship of their parents or other legal guardians. Account holders may have only one dowry account that may not be transferred from one bank to another.Young people who want to establish a dowry account will be able to apply to any bank offering these services beginning tomorrow. They need to deposit and maintain between TL 100 ($35) and TL 1,000 in their dowry accounts for at least three years before the date of marriage. Deposits may also be made once every three months (between TL 300 and TL 3,000 once every three months). The government will add 10 percent of what is deposited during years three and four, 15 percent of what is deposited in years four and five and 20 percent of what is deposited during year five and thereafter. The state subsidy will not exceed TL 4,000, TL 4,500 and TL 5,000, respectively.Depositors may petition the bank at which they have taken out their dowry account with their marriage certificates and a document showing their first marriage within six months of the date of marriage. They can withdraw their savings within two months at the latest. The government will not provide a subsidy if individuals skip more than three monthly payments within a 12-month period after the dowry account is opened. The same stipulation applies if individuals skip more than one quarterly payment or withdraw money from the dowry account more than twice within a 12-month period or and leave the deposited money below the limit after withdrawing some of it.