Turkey's gay men mt get a 'pk certifite' to exempt themselv om ary service | The World om PRX

Contents:

• GAYS SEEKG ARY EXEMPTN TURKEY NO LONGER NEED TO PROVI VISUAL PROOF OF THEIR HOMOSEXUALY
• PROVG YOU'RE GAY TO THE TURKISH ARMY
• TURKISH GAYS FACE GRADG TTS TO AVOID ARMY
• CONSCRIPTS TO TURKISH ARMY MT ‘PROVE’ THEY’RE GAY FOR EXEMPTN OM ARY SERVICE
• TURKEY TO EXPEL OUT GAY SOLDIERS
• ARE YOU A GAY MAN? HERE ARE THE HORRIFYG WAYS THE TURKISH ARMY WILL ASK YOU TO PROVE IT
• TURKEY'S GAY MEN MT GET A 'PK CERTIFITE' TO EXEMPT THEMSELV OM ARY SERVICE
• TURKISH GAYS AND THE ARY
• TURKEY - BEG GAY OR PAYG YOUR WAY OUT
• GAY MEN IRAN'S MILARY CAN SEEK EXEMPTN

GAYS SEEKG ARY EXEMPTN TURKEY NO LONGER NEED TO PROVI VISUAL PROOF OF THEIR HOMOSEXUALY

Turkey mak difficult for potential nscripte to avoid the draft, generally makg exceptns only for those who are sick, disabled or homosexual. To receive an exemptn based on their sexualy, men mt publicly clare they are gay — a claratn that ensur discrimatn will follow them for the rt of their liv. As if that isn't bad enough, until last week, to receive the exemptn men also had to prove their homosexualy by unrgog nu examatns and submtg photos of themselv engaged  homosexual terurse.

“Beg gay Turkey is difficult, but for a gay of draft age, the difficulti bee a hell, ” Ahmet K., a 27-year-old homosexual Turk, told Al-Monor Istanbul. Ahmet, who pleted his ary service last year, said, “To start wh, the medil examatn [to terme fns] for ary service is perhaps the first challenge your life that forc you to make a choice between your gay inty and social reali.

PROVG YOU'RE GAY TO THE TURKISH ARMY

In newspaper terviews Augt 2014, another homosexual, Kaan Anter (a psdonym), unrled that for some gays, bravg the “unf report” is out of the qutn. ” The amendment troduced the tegory of “sexual inty and behavral disorrs, ” which effectively meant that homosexualy was now acknowledged as a chosen inty and the ary no longer saw as an illns. ” That clse of the amendment was another ditn that the army’s tegoril rejectn of homosexualy as an illns was replaced wh a softer fn classifyg as a source of adaptatn and functnaly problems.

Unr the Turkish Armed Forc Disciple Law, homosexualy is a reason for expulsn om the ary for missned and nonmissned officers, as well as for ary school stunts. Durg my doctoral studi  the summer of 2015, I nducted a survey among some 1, 300 officers askg whether homosexuals should be allowed to serve the army.

That said, the improvement the pre-draft medil examatn, which vers about 500, 000 young men four terms each year, reprents a major step forward observg the basic human rights of homosexual dividuals and remov a signifint source of cricism the Turkish ary has faced for years. "Ahmet, a young man his 20s, told officials he was gay at the first opportuny after he was lled up, as he and other nscripts unrwent a health check. '' Instead he gave them a photograph of himself kissg another hop this will give him what he needs - a "pk certifite", which will clare him homosexual and therefore exempt om ary the years, gay life has been beg more visible Turkey's big ci.

TURKISH GAYS FACE GRADG TTS TO AVOID ARMY

Caf and clubs wh an openly gay clientele have been openg Istanbul, and last summer's gay pri march - unique the Mlim world - was the largt while there are no specific laws agast homosexualy Turkey, openly gay men are not wele the army. At the same time, they have to "prove" their homosexualy orr to avoid ary, nscripted the late 1990s, very quickly realised that he was not ma for the army.

''I had a fear of guns, '' he ptn, Last summer's gay pri march Istanbul was the largt ever held TurkeyAs a gay man he was also aaid of beg bullied, and after ltle more than a week he plucked up the urage to clare his sexual orientatn to his manr. Sometim, stead of photographs, doctors rely on a "personaly tt" Turkish army refed BBC requts for an terview, but a retired general, Armagan Kuloglu, agreed to gay men the army would e "disciplary problems", he says, and would be impractil creatg the need for "separate facili, separate dormori, showers, trag areas" says that if a gay man keeps his sexualy secret, he n serve - an echo of the US ary's recently dropped Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. "But when someone out and says he is gay, then the army needs to make sure that he is tly gay, and not simply lyg to eva his mandatory duty to serve the ary.

''The social stigma associated wh homosexualy Turkey is such that outsi the young and urbanised circl big ci like Istanbul and Ankara, is hard to image a man clarg that he's gay when he's not. "Doctors are g unr immense prsure om their manrs to diagnose homosexualy, and they obey, even though there really are no diagnostic tools to terme sexual orientatn, '' says one psychiatrist who formerly worked at a ary hospal.

CONSCRIPTS TO TURKISH ARMY MT ‘PROVE’ THEY’RE GAY FOR EXEMPTN OM ARY SERVICE

And next to that, brackets, ''homosexualy'''s ary hospals still fe homosexualy as an illns, takg a 1968 versn of a document by the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn as their people Turkey say wh rentment that gay men are actually lucky, as at least they have one possible route out of ary service - they don't have to spend months the barracks, or face the possibily of beg ployed to fight agast Kurdish for openly gay men, life n be far om is not unmon for employers Turkey to qutn job applints about their ary service - and a pk certifite n mean a job of Gokhan's employers found out about not by askg Gokhan himself but by askg the that, he says, he was bullied. WorldGay men Turkey seekg exemptn om the untry's mandatory ary service mt prove their homosexualy, the BBC reports, even though many army physicians realize 's medilly impossible to terme sexual orientatn. A BBC report says gay Turks wishg to avoid ary service mt prove their homosexualy, often by submtg explic photos or answerg qutnnair om a health panel.

TURKEY TO EXPEL OUT GAY SOLDIERS

(Associated Prs)Gay men Turkey seekg exemptn om the untry's mandatory ary service mt prove their homosexualy, the BBC reports, even though many army physicians realize 's medilly impossible to terme sexual rultg procs to obta a so-lled "pk certifite" allowg gays to dodge nscriptn — and potentially dangero ployments to bat Kurdish separatists — is often huiatg, the Brish public broadster says a documentary airg Tuday.

'They asked me if I liked football, whether I wore women's cloth or ed women's perfume'—Ahmet, gay nscript TurkeyIt's mon for gay men to subm explic photographs, unrgo personaly tts and answer qutnnair about their sexual preferenc.

Lackg any valid "diagnostic tools, " a physician told the BBC World Service, potential gay drafte mt prepare whatever evince they n to nvce a ary health panel of their homosexualy, sometim emed as a "psychosexual disorr. ""They asked me if I liked football, whether I wore women's cloth or ed women's perfume, " said one gay nscript his man, g the name Ahmet to protect his te inty, said he refed requts to show a health panel pictur of himself drsed as a woman.

ARE YOU A GAY MAN? HERE ARE THE HORRIFYG WAYS THE TURKISH ARMY WILL ASK YOU TO PROVE IT

(Murad Sezer/Associated Prs)One former army psychiatrist said doctors feel prsure om ary manrs to diagnose homosexualy, "even though there really are no diagnostic tools to terme sexual orientatn.

"''It is medilly impossible, and not at all ethil, " he are no laws explicly banng homosexualy Turkey and thoands marched the 2011 gay pri para Istanbul.

Still, homosexualy is not wily tolerated and gays n still face discrimatn by employers and are nsired unf for ary service as they n e "disciplary problems" and would require separate lodggs and washrooms, a retired manr, Armagan Kuloglu, reasoned. Although homosexualy is not wily tolerated  Turkey due to social stigma, the possibily that straight men might feign beg gay to avoid ary service is a ncern for the army, acrdg to the BBC report.

TURKEY'S GAY MEN MT GET A 'PK CERTIFITE' TO EXEMPT THEMSELV OM ARY SERVICE

However, as the BBC is reportg, those hopg to be clared exempt mt first receive a "pk certifite, " and dog so means a ndidate mt be prepared to provi "proof" of homosexualy, which n allegedly be a lengthy and huiatg experience. Says Ahmet, a gay man his 20s who claims he alerted officials to his liftyle when he was lled up: ''They asked me when I first had anal terurse, oral sex, what sort of toys I played wh as a child.

"Havg grown a few days' beard at the time of the quiry, Ahmet adds, "They asked me if I liked football, whether I wore woman's cloth or ed woman's told me I didn't look like a normal gay man.

'' He was then asked to provi a picture of himself drsed as a another se, the article not, a Turkish gay man provid explic photos of himself havg sex wh another man orr to obta an exemptn. '' The story's revelatns are perhaps most surprisg given Turkey's otherwise improvg stance on s lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) muny.

TURKISH GAYS AND THE ARY

As Pk News noted last year, the Turkish ernment has refed to back laws agast discrimatn and has allowed leadg policians to make explicly homophobic statements, but has otherwise ma chang an effort to nform to EU policy on human rights laws. There are no specific laws agast homosexualy Turkey, but out gay men are unwele Turkey’s armed forc, givg them ltle centive to fulfil the role their untry requir of them. Armagan Kuloglu, a retired Turkish army general, told the BBC that openly gay men the army would e “disciplary problems” and create a disptive and expensive need for “separate facili, separate dormori, showers, trag areas”.

He add: “When someone out and says he is gay, then the army needs to make sure that he is tly gay, and not simply lyg to eva his mandatory duty to serve the ary. To this end, gay men hopg for an exemptn certifite on the grounds of homosexualy (a “pk certifite”) claim they have been forced to subm such thgs to their manrs as explic photographs of themselv engagg sex wh another man. The Turkish Armed Forc is set to troduce a new regulatn that sentially stat to gay soldiers: ‘If you e out – you’ll be expelled, if you stay the closet – we’ll do nothg’.

Erol told the Hürriyet Daily News yterday: ‘When is the se of mandatory ary service, a gay person is nsired sick and held exempt om ary service. LGBT people who wish to be nscient objectors to ary service mt stead intify themselv as ‘sick’ – and are forced to unrgo what Human Rights Watch lls ‘huiatg and gradg’ examatns to ‘prove’ their homosexualy. On 26 April 2012, 22 Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have exprsed ncern about the gradg treatment applied to gays and trans women by excludg them om service the Turkish Armed Forc, and lled for this practice to be halted.

TURKEY - BEG GAY OR PAYG YOUR WAY OUT

A small pk certifite listg the reason for exemptn is issued; if you are gay, the certifite will read, ''psychosexual disorr'' and ''homosexualy" brackets next to gay men are prohibed om ary service of any kd, the procs for termg and then "diagnosg" them as gay is an credibly difficult huiatg and meang one. Acrdg to this BBC article, here are some of the ways you mt prove you are gay to the Turkish army before you are allowed to take that psychosexual disorr elsewhere:Answer qutns regardg your preference on football, wearg women's clothg, and/or perfume. Turkey's homosexuals mt go to huiatg lengths orr to get a "pk certifite, " which exempts them om ary service bee of their sexualy, BBC News reported.

GAY MEN IRAN'S MILARY CAN SEEK EXEMPTN

Turkey's ary hospals still fe homosexualy as an illns, acrdg to the BBC, and e a document about sexualy by the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn that dat back to 1968 as their gui. "Doctors are g unr immense prsure om their manrs to diagnose homosexualy, and they obey, even though there really are no diagnostic tools to terme sexual orientatn, '' a former ary psychiatrist told the BBC.

However, though many army physicians realize the impossibily of "diagnosg" sexual orientatn, they require men to answer qutns, subm graphic photos, and take personaly tts to qualify for the piece of paper that allows gays to avoid army service and dangero ployments to fight Kurdish rebels, CBC News reported. "They (ary physicians) asked me when I first had anal terurse, oral sex, what sort of toys I played wh as a child, " Ahmet, who is gay, told the BBC. "The social stigma associated wh homosexualy Turkey is such that outsi the young and urbanized circl big ci like Istanbul and Ankara, is hard to image a man clarg that he's gay when he's not, " wrote the BBC's Emre Azizlerli.

The Turkish ernment has also refed to support laws agast discrimatn, and allows policians to make homophobic statements, the Huffgton Post reported. To answer this qutn, this project draws on four months of rearch Turkey where terviews were nducted wh proment lawyers and activists as well as wh gay men who personally experienced the humane exemptn procs of the Turkish ary. The exemptn methods, along wh the classifitn of gay men as psychologilly ill, monstrate the Turkish ary’s repeated adherence to scientific practic discreded by the morn medil and psychologil muny.