If I were asked which lobbying group in Turkey is the most organized, I would without hesitation say it's an unofficial group of citizens advocating paid exemption from military service. All Turkish men above 20 years of age are obliged to serve. Those who want to be exempted, mostly university graduates, have created websites and used social media to campaign intensively for the government to reactivate paid exemption.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government's first such program was in 2011, when men over the age of 30 paid 30,000 Turkish lira (some $6,500) and served just 21 days in the army. In 2014, a new paid-exemption law attracted 160,000 out of 600,000 eligible candidates above 27 years old. They paid 18,000 lira (some $3,900) for exemption. Although there were several reasons for reintroducing the practice that year, the real determinant was heavy public demand by young men and their families. According to some commentators, one motivation was the money the government received, but the real reason was that crowds were piling up at recruitment offices.

Today, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is 50% professional, with 200,000 conscripts. Every year about 300,000 Turkish men above 18 years of age are recruited for 12 months of service. According to official data obtained by Al-Monitor, today some 1.9 million young men have had their service deferred because of their studies. Another 3 million have applied for deferral for various other reasons. About 650,000 are considered to be avoiding service altogether in violation of the law.

In the June 24 elections, some 10 million supporters of the paid-exemption movement — made up of hundreds of thousands of young men whose time for military service has come and their families — became a major political voice.