Turkey retirement debate focuses on insurance start dates

Discussions regarding retirement in Turkey are shifting focus from age and premium days to the critical issue of insurance start dates. Social security expert Mehmet Akif Cenkci highlights a significant equity problem facing millions of citizens who participated in internship and apprenticeship programs.

Under current regulations, insurance records for interns and apprentices do not count toward retirement commencement. This is because these periods primarily involve short-term insurance branches rather than the long-term branches—disability, old age, and death—that form the basis of retirement. While this distinction is based on technical and legal grounds, experts argue that the social security system should be re-evaluated to address the resulting grievances and reflect changing societal expectations.