03.07.2026 07:10
With the regulation adopted in the Turkish Grand National Assembly's General Assembly, contracted non-commissioned officers and privates who have served for at least 7 years and are under 41 years of age have been granted employment opportunities in the public sector. The law also reorganized the conditions for transitioning to specialist non-commissioned officer and petty officer ranks, while introducing significant changes regarding the personnel rights, record system, and various administrative practices of Turkish Armed Forces personnel.
The General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly convened under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker Tekin Bingöl. In the General Assembly, the 17-article Law on Specialist Non-Commissioned Officers and the Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Laws were discussed and adopted.
With the draft, the personnel rights of Turkish Armed Forces personnel will be regulated, and employment in the public sector will be provided for contracted non-commissioned officers and privates. Accordingly, non-commissioned officers and privates who have served at least 7 years and have not turned 41 as of the application date may serve in public institutions and organizations as enforcement and protection officers, market and neighborhood watchmen, forest protection officers, administrative supervision personnel, protection and security personnel, municipal police officers, and firefighters.
ALLOWANCE AND MILITARY PREMISES REGULATION
According to the amendment made to the Allowance Law, within the scope of the provision "allowance for operations in military units," those who receive daily allowances, except for personnel on submarine vessels who cannot be provided with accommodation onboard in domestic ports, will not be paid additional accommodation expenses under the regulation regarding "daily allowances to be paid within the country."
With the regulation made in the Turkish Armed Forces Internal Service Law, officers' clubs, military casinos, barracks casinos, shift dormitories, veteran adaptation houses, and private, local, and winter training centers will also have the quality and character of military premises as they are military buildings.
REGULATION ON THE RE-APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS WHO LEFT THE TAF
In the Turkish Armed Forces Personnel Law, while there is a clear provision stating that non-commissioned officers who leave the Armed Forces for any reason cannot be re-appointed as active service members, an amendment is being made due to the lack of a provision regarding officers. Accordingly, except for those who have performed military service under the Military Service Law, officers who leave the Armed Forces for any reason cannot be re-appointed as active service members, except for the exceptions specified in the law.
Changes have also been made to the procedures, principles, and conditions regarding the transfer of contracted non-commissioned officers and privates to specialist non-commissioned officer status. Accordingly, candidates must succeed in physical fitness and assessment tests as well as written and/or oral exams. Within the scope of the regulation, the evaluation criteria for the physical fitness and assessment tests and the written and oral exams have also been determined.
If a written exam is conducted, it will cover general culture and professional knowledge topics. Candidates must achieve at least 50 points out of a total of 100. The written exam may be conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Ministry of National Defense, as applicable, or may be outsourced to other public institutions, organizations, or universities.
In the physical fitness and assessment test, candidates must obtain at least 50 points out of a total of 100 in each applied test, and the arithmetic average of the scores obtained from the tests must be at least 60. If an oral exam is conducted, the chairperson and members of the oral exam committee will be determined by the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Ministry of National Defense, as applicable. Multiple committees may be formed depending on the number of candidates.
In the oral exam, candidates will be evaluated on a scale of 100 points based on their general appearance, ability to comprehend instructions, self-confidence, background, personality, psychological structure, self-expression skills, body language use, emotional stability, extroversion, compatibility, sense of responsibility, openness, suitability for the profession, and willingness. The average of the scores given independently by each member will determine the candidate's oral exam score. To be considered successful in the oral exam, a candidate must obtain at least 70 points.
The proportions of the physical fitness and assessment test and the written and/or oral exams within the overall evaluation score for the success ranking will be determined by the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Ministry of National Defense, as applicable. In case of tie in the overall evaluation scores, priority will be given, in order, to the candidate with a higher physical fitness and assessment test score, longer actual service period, higher education level, rank status, and award or penalty score.
CONDITIONS FOR SPECIALIST NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS TO BECOME NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS ARE ALSO CHANGING
With the draft, changes are also made to the procedures, principles, and conditions regarding the transfer of specialist non-commissioned officers to non-commissioned officer status in the Specialist Non-Commissioned Officer Law. Accordingly, a performance score condition will no longer be required for the transfer of specialist non-commissioned officers to non-commissioned officer status.
Specialist non-commissioned officers who have obtained at least four years of performance records from the date of their recruitment as specialist non-commissioned officers by the application date for the non-commissioned officer exam and whose average of existing performance records is 90% or more of the full performance score will be appointed as non-commissioned officer sergeants, up to the number needed by the force commands, the General Command of the Gendarmerie, or the Coast Guard Command.
Candidates whose average of existing performance records from the date of recruitment as specialist non-commissioned officers is 90% or more of the full performance score by the application date for the non-commissioned officer vocational school entrance exam, up to the number needed, will be appointed as non-commissioned officer sergeants after the training provided in non-commissioned officer vocational schools.
The qualifications required for personnel, application method and time, acceptance of applications, execution and termination of contracts, performance record practices, failure in duty, inability to adapt, contract extension, the possibility of specialist corporals becoming specialist sergeants, principles of transition to non-commissioned officer status, subordinate-superior relationships, and other matters will be regulated by a regulation to be jointly prepared by the Ministries of National Defense and Internal Affairs.