Radical Shift in Turkey’s Retirement System

For decades, savvy workers in Turkey have used a specific legal maneuver to secure better pensions: switching insurance statuses in the final years of their careers. However, that era is officially closing. According to social security expert İsa Karakaş, the “last-minute goal” strategy is being replaced by a holistic review of a worker’s entire professional history.

The Death of the 1,260-Day Rule

Under the traditional system, the rules for retirement were governed by the final 2,520 days (7 years) of active service. If a worker spent at least 1,260 days of that period under a specific status (such as SSK), they could retire under those terms, even if the bulk of their career was spent elsewhere.

As Karakaş highlights, this allowed many self-employed individuals (Bağ-Kur) to switch to private-sector insurance (SSK) in their final 3.5 years to access earlier retirement and higher payouts. For anyone who started their insurance journey after October 2008, this shortcut has been completely abolished.

New Reality: Your Entire Career Matters

The Social Security Institution (SGK) is shifting its focus from the finish line to the entire marathon. The new “Dominant Status” logic dictates that your retirement conditions are determined by the majority of your total working life, not just the end.

Key Changes at a Glance:

• Status Consolidation: While SSK, Bağ-Kur, and Emekli Sandığı are under one roof, their internal requirements remain distinct.

• The Majority Wins: SGK now evaluates which status holds the most days across your entire history.

• No More Fast-Tracking: A worker with 23 years of self-employment (Bağ-Kur) can no longer “fix” their retirement by working the last 7 years in a private-sector job.

The “Heavy Bill” for New Generations

The financial and temporal consequences of this shift are significant. Under the old rules, switching to SSK could allow retirement with fewer premium days. Now, if the majority of a worker’s history is under Bağ-Kur, SGK will demand the full 9,000-day premium requirement, regardless of where they spent their final years.

This structural change means that workers must now plan their insurance status from the very first day they enter the workforce. The “wait and see” approach of the past could result in years of unexpected extra work for those caught on the wrong side of the new regulations.