Glossary
Bedelli askerlik — meaning and English translation
Bedelli askerlik is the domestic paid-service option: a Turkish citizen pays a fee and completes a short period of basic training instead of full military service.
Two payment routes exist for Turkish military service, and they are often confused. Bedelli askerlik is available to citizens regardless of where they live: the applicant pays a fee set by law and attends a basic training period in Türkiye, after which the obligation is discharged. Dövizle askerlik is reserved for those who have lived and worked abroad for the qualifying period, is paid in foreign currency through a consulate and involves remote rather than in-person training. A person who has spent too long in Türkiye to qualify for the foreign-currency route falls back on bedelli.
We translate bedelli askerlik as “paid military service (bedelli askerlik)” and keep the two terms distinct in every document, since a UK employer's letter or a consulate form may name one but not the other.
UK bodies have no involvement; the related process for citizens abroad is described under dövizle askerlik step by step.