About 5 million civil servants work in the public sector. Those who want to retire early can benefit from different social rights, such as debt repayment (borçlanma) and voluntary insurance contributions.
For example, a civil servant who has worked at least 10 years as a public official can retire by making voluntary insurance contributions if they leave their position voluntarily. Those who left their job before September 2004 must apply to the Social Security Institution (SGK) within 3 months, while those who left after that date must apply within 6 months.
Regardless of whether they retired under the so-called EYT arrangements or through normal retirement, those who retired from BAĞKUR or SSK and then started working in the public sector have their pension payments suspended. Civil servants who leave their position and later resume receiving their pension do not lose the increases and improvements that occurred during the period the pension was suspended.
Advancing the Start Date of Insurance
For people who became civil servants for the first time after October 2008, prior insurance periods under SSK, BAĞKUR or special funds that predate their civil servant start date—such as student periods, military service or foreign service—can be recognized through debt repayment (borçlanma). These repurchased periods are counted in the retirement calculation and can move the insurance start date earlier. While these payments do not change the contribution amounts already made, they may enable earlier retirement in certain cases.
Can civil servants use military service debt repayment to bring their insurance start date forward and retire earlier?
The SGK issued a circular on October 19, 2023, that made it possible to adjust insurance start dates and recognize service periods through debt repayment. This change created opportunities for those seeking early retirement.
This regulation is particularly important for those who first entered civil service after October 2008. If you worked insured previously, served abroad, performed military service, or had student insurance periods before becoming a civil servant, you can count those periods by repaying them and potentially qualify for earlier retirement. In other words, civil servants can use military service debt repayment to move their insurance start date earlier.
Does the high court decision on allowing debt repayment cover all civil servants?
The high court decision that opened the door to debt repayment does not apply to civil servants whose first insured date was after October 2008 and who began working after that date. Apart from those cases, most other civil servants can benefit from this option.
If a retired public employee engages in business, must they pay a support premium? Will their pension be reduced?
Whether a retiree who starts working must pay a support premium or faces deductions from their pension depends on how they participate in the social security system. There is a distinction between those who entered the system before and after the 2008 social security reform. After the reform, SSK-insured retirees do not have an option to work by paying a support premium.
Since 2016, deductions for those who entered the system after the reform and were Bağkur-insured have been ended. Those who run businesses—whether employees, civil servants, or self-employed—generally do not have their pension reduced. People who retire from SSK, Bağkur or the Pension Fund and then return to civil service continue to have their old-age pension subject to reduction as it was before the reform.
If a retired police officer works for a private security company, will their pension be reduced?
If a retired police officer works in the private sector, their pension is not cut. Instead, a social support premium is deducted from the salary at the new workplace according to law, allowing the retiree to receive both the new salary and their pension. However, if the retired officer returns to work in the public sector, their pension will be suspended.
Are pensions suspended for all civil servants who retire and continue working in the public sector?
Certain categories of retirees can continue serving in public institutions without pension suspension: members appointed to the Council of Ministers, persons elected to the Presidency, members of legislative bodies, those working as paid staff in educational institutions provided they have not exceeded the age limit, staff at foundation universities, and retired officers or non-commissioned officers participating in military student training. These groups can serve without having their pensions cut.
Can civil servants use debt repayment for unpaid leave periods to qualify for retirement?
Civil servants who began service before September 8, 1999, can repurchase unpaid leave periods to qualify for retirement. If civil service started before October 2008, unpaid leave periods are evaluated within the old Pension Fund framework for retirement calculations. In those cases, the unpaid leave period should be repurchased no later than six months before retirement.
Can civil servants who become disabled later retire early?
Employees who, after starting work, are later assessed by medical reports to have a loss of working capacity between 50 and 59 percent can retire at any time as long as they have paid at least 5,760 days of contributions.