Turkish Defence Minister İsmet Yılmaz has announced that almost 200,000 people have applied to be exempt from military service as the deadline for the applications ended on Friday.The Turkish parliament approved a bill on December 3, which enables Turkish men aged 27 years old and over to skip their compulsory military service by paying 18,000 TL ($7,307). According to Yılmaz, 199,358 out of the 600,000 young men eligible for the program applied to benefit from the regulation. The expected revenue from the program is TL 3.5 billion ($1.4 billion).125,834 people have benefitted so far from paid military service regulations in Turkey. Such regulations have been made four times previously, with 67,630 people benefiting from the regulation in 2011, 72,290 people in 1999, 35,111 people in 1992 and18,433 people in 1987, according to the findings of Parliament's Research Center.Turkey requires all male citizens from 20 to 41 years of age to perform mandatory military service. The duration of the service varies according to a person's education level. Those who hold a four-year university degree can complete the military service within 6 months while those without such a degree have to attend for 12 months. Additionally, those who are enrolled in higher education are permitted to delay the service.