Job Discussion Forums

[delal]

While it's laudable that you don't want to avoid military service, and all that entails, you will be at a disadvantage re wages and conditions (probably even in intl schools) because of your nationality if you work here as an English teacher
Should you go down the renouncing Turkish nationality route to live here, you will understandably encounter negative reactions from Turks (your first name would be a giveaway anyway)

[cartago]

I'm not trying to discourage you from military service, I might make the same decision as you if I were in your position. I just have an extremely negative attitude towards askerlik because of the stories in the news that have come out about the insane number of suicides of conscripts due to abuse in the army as well as stories about higher-ups beating up conscripts with impunity as well as deaths from low safety standards. There was one story about a conscript forced to hold a grenade that exploded.

Anyway, this sounds very alarmist but plenty of people don't have that experience and if you come from a more educated and higher social status it probably won't be like that.

[ClaudeRains]

Oh, noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Don't do that. I can't imagine a scarier route home for you. Joining the Turkish army as a conscript right now, considering the political situation in Turkey and the eastern Med, and considering the Turkish army's reputation for brutality toward its conscripts, is madness, especially if you do it as a well educated American. You'd be better off joining the Foreign Legion or jumping in front of a truck. I don't know why you can't visit on your American passport and explore the situation from there. Ask someone who loves you to slap you repeatedly until you come to your senses. Otherwise, you're on track for "Midnight Express: the sequel".

[cartago]

I'm also very concerned about Turkey's abuse of conscripts and infuriated about the EU's indifference towards it, especially considering their long list of human rights concerns. However, I think your post is really alarmist as not everyone has those experiences.

[ClaudeRains]

Hi Cartago. I agree, it's quite possible he will be fine as a Turkish conscript, and that the Turkish army won't pull a coup with popular support to put an end to the creeping Islamism of the Erdogan government, and that the Syrian meltdown won't draw in the Turkish army to keep the peace or fight the Kurds there. I'm not being sarcastic. I agree that all three of those possibilities are remote, taken together or alone. However, he's got a pretty good gig going already. Why would he want to expose himself to that risk? No one remembers that Cassandra was right...she is remembered as an alarmist. Hey, is that Cartago as in Cartago delenda est?