Sezgin Tanrıkulu, deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), has presented a draft bill for ratification to Parliament on paid military service, which was last introduced the previous year for a limited time.
The new bill lowers the age limit for eligibility for paid military service and brings more flexible payment options based on the income of applicants.
The bill is now before Parliament, where the interim Justice and Development Party (AK Party) lost the absolute majority and the CHP secured 131 seats, the highest after the AK Party's 258.
It brings changes to the previous bill that was approved last year, namely in terms of the age limit for eligibility, which was amended to 26 from 25. More significantly, it offers a graded payment system for applicants, which means those with less income will pay less and will be able to pay in installations. The highest total payment will be TL 25,000 ($9,300) while the lowest will be TL 10,000, unlike last year's bill that required applicants to pay a fixed figure of TL 18,000.
Tanrıkulu said in his proposal for the draft bill that revenues from paid military service can be used for the construction of student dormitories.
Over 200,000 people benefited from the paid military bill last year, contributing some TL 3.6 billion to the state's coffers.
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