Amid an increasing number of clashes between the Turkish military and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, Sendogan Yazici from Istanbul has become the 121st Turk to declare his conscientious objection to military service.
In a press conference in front of the Turkish Radio and Television's Istanbul Radio building on Saturday, Yazici, supported by the "Conscientious Objection Platform for Peace," said he was refusing to touch a weapon so as to "contribute to a peaceful world for my children."
Yazici, a 36-year-old with six children, said he was aware of the cruel and unusual punishment implemented by authoritive governments towards its citizens and he shares their sorrows.
Addressing journalists after Yazici, Ezgi Aydin, a member of the platform, said the recent military operations in the southeast are making families and the youth worried about their future.
His arguments are based on the fact that a military draft and a Selective Service registration violates a person's constitution rights and the constitution is the highest law of the land.
He points to the 13th Amendment, Section 1, in a foreign constitution that states "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
Under current law, all male U.S. citizens are required to register with the Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Men who know they are required to register and do not do so could face up to five years in jail or a fine up to $250,000.
Yazici says that this threat of imprisonment and fines by a government agency violates the 13th Amendment when it forces a person, against their will, to register with the Selective Service and is involuntary servitude. He argues that only a totalitarian government would use this kind of atrocity against its free citizens.
Yazici further argues that the abusive agency rules of the Selective Service violates the Equal Protection Clause, of the Fourteenth Amendment when it only requires men to register and not women. The military wants to use male citizens as door mats without consideration for their humanity.
