02.09.2026 08:40
The end is near for the Bağ-Kur regulation that millions of small tradesmen have been waiting for. It is expected that the 9,000 premium days required for retirement will be reduced to 7,200, providing tradesmen with an advantage of 1,800 days. The regulation, which is expected to become law next year, is anticipated to cover small tradesmen and artisans, while company partners and owners of large workplaces are expected to remain outside its scope.
The countdown has begun for the legal regulation that millions of small tradesmen have been eagerly awaiting and that will reduce the number of premium days required for retirement from 9,000 to 7,200.
According to behind-the-scenes information reported by Isa Karakas, a writer for Türkiye newspaper, the legal regulation that will reduce the number of Bağ-Kur premium days, long awaited by small tradesmen, from 9,000 to 7,200 is expected to come into force next year. Following the Retirement Age Waiters (EYT) regulation, it was stated that cost determination and actuarial calculations have been completed for tradesmen who suffered grievances due to the widening premium gap between SSK and Bağ-Kur.
THE PREMIUM GAP CREATED AFTER EYT
With the enactment of the EYT law, the age condition was removed for employees insured before September 8, 1999, and SSK insurants gained the right to retire with premiums between 5,000 and 5,975 days. However, Bağ-Kur (4/1-b) tradesmen working independently on their own behalf were stuck in retirement opportunities by having to complete 9,000 premium days. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's pre-election promise that the 9,000-day premium requirement for tradesmen would be reduced to 7,200 days, that is, 5 years (1,800 days) less, forms the basis of the expectations of approximately 1 million tradesmen.
REGULATION EXPECTED TO BE ENACTED NEXT YEAR
The regulation, which has been kept on hold due to budget balance considerations because of the fight against inflation in the economy and the discipline of the Medium-Term Program (OVP) implemented decisively over the last 3 years, is nearing its end. According to information obtained from Isa Karakas's sources, all cost and actuarial calculations regarding the premium equalization have been finalized. It has been stated that the stage of preparing the bill and submitting it to the Turkish Grand National Assembly has been reached, and according to behind-the-scenes information, it is anticipated that the reform in question will be enacted and come into force next year.
WHO WILL BENEFIT AND WHO WILL BE EXCLUDED?
Although there is a mistaken expectation in the public that all Bağ-Kur insurants will benefit from this reduction, the scope of the regulation is drawn with clear lines. The only group that will benefit from the reduction of the premium requirement to 7,200 days will be small tradesmen and craftsmen. Company partners and owners of large workplaces, on the other hand, will be exempt from this right and will continue to be subject to the existing 9,000-day requirement. On the front of female Bağ-Kur insurants, since the premium requirement for those within the scope of EYT is already 7,200 days, no additional reduction will be applied. However, female insurants who joined the system after EYT and are subject to the 9,000-day requirement are on the agenda to benefit from this regulation.
"ZERO DEBT" CRITERION FOR RETIREMENT PETITION
Even if the expected law is passed, one of the most critical rules of the Bağ-Kur system, the "zero debt" rule, will continue to apply. For a tradesman who has completed the day requirement to submit a retirement petition, they must not have a single kuruş of past premium debt at the time of application. In this regard, tradesmen who meet the conditions are advised to check their debts and plan their payments now against a possible legal regulation.