The number of professional soldiers in the Turkish Armed Forces now for the first time exceeds the number of conscripts, reaching 55%, according to a report from the country's Ministry of Defense.

In 2017, professionals made up 38% of the personnel of the Turkish army, or 156,000 people․ In 2021, this figure increased to 55%, or 216 thousand military personnel. The number of conscripts for the specified period decreased from 259,000 to 175,000, TASS said citing a report from Cumhuriyet.

The newspaper also focuses on the reduction of the number of the Turkish army within five years, dropping from 453,000 troops in 2017 to 430,000 in 2021.

The Turkish Armed Forces is the second largest standing military force in NATO, after the U.S. Armed Forces. Turkey is one of five NATO member states which are part of the nuclear sharing policy of the alliance, together with Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.