In Turkey, compulsory military service applies to all male citizens from 21 to 41 years of age. It is 6 months for all males regardless of education degree. Turkish citizens who reside overseas and have worked for at least three consecutive years have the option to pay a certain fee to be exempt from mandatory military service. This requires a fee of €5,563.66 and theoretical military training as of October 2020. Women are not conscripted, but they are permitted to become officers. History Devshirme was the forced conscription of children from non-Turkish families to use them as military slaves since 14th century. The Conscription Law was introduced in 1919 and has stayed in force since then. However, the length of service has been successively reduced over time. Between 1919 and 1998, the average length of service was 18 months for non-educated males and 12 months for educated (University Level.) In 1998, these lengths were reduced to 12 months for non-educated conscripts and 6 months for educated ones. After 2001, the current length of service was introduced, with a bar on further reductions until 2024. Conscription during state of war After serving their compulsory service, male citizens are obligated to be recalled up to military service until they are 41 years of age. After males are recalled up, the Turkish parliament can declare that the state is in a critical condition which obliges service from women aged 18 to 42. Debates about equal service Yusuf Ziya Özcan, president of YÖK, announced in March 2008 military service duration would be equal for everyone; holding or not holding a degree would not matter. İlker Başbuğ, then president of the Turkish Armed Forces, said that short-term military service and reserve officers system would be abandoned. In this system, he proposed, everybody would spend 12 or 15 months in conscription. Instead of reserve officers, officers would be contracted. In October 2010, instead of the system proposed before, shortening the duration of military service is proposed. In this proposition, short-term privates would spend 4 months, and other people would spend 9 months in conscription. Conscripted 250000 people would be released early. TSK refused this system claiming it would create a shortage of soldiers. However, some people argue conscripts are forced to work for officers' private needs. This includes driving, cooking, hairdressing and serving meals in officers' clubs, teaching to officers' children. Some of the conscripts are