Turkish Armed Forces Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri
Founded	May 3, 1920[1]
Service branches	Turkish Army Turkish Air Force Turkish Navy Gendarmerie* Coast Guard* *Note: Gendarmerie and Coast Guard fall under the Ministry of the Interior during peacetime.
Leadership
Supreme Military Command	Abdullah Gül
Minister of National Defense	İsmet Yılmaz
Chief of the General Staff	Necdet Özel
Manpower
Military age	19
Conscription	6-15 months depending on education level
Active personnel	666,576 active personnel[2]
Reserve personnel	378,700 reserve and 152,200 paramilitary[citation needed]
Expenditures
Budget	$17.5 billion in 2011 (ranked 15th)
Percent of GDP	2.4% (2011)
Industry
Domestic suppliers	Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation ASELSAN GIRSAN TISAS Havelsan Transvaro Turkish Aerospace Industries Otokar Roketsan Pardus Gölcük Naval Shipyard Akdal Arms
Foreign suppliers	United States  Germany  United Kingdom  Italy  South Korea  France  Spain  China  Russia  Israel  Australia  Netherlands  Norway  Sweden
Annual imports	$675 million (2009 est. in constant 1990 USD)[3]
Annual exports	$830 m (USD)[4]
Related articles
History	Military history of Turkey
Standard of the President as Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish Armed Forces

The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) (Turkish: Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri or TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. They consist of the Army, the Navy (including naval aviation and naval infantry), and the Air Force. The Gendarmerie and the Coast Guard, both of which have law enforcement and military functions, operate as components of the internal security forces in peacetime, and are subordinate to the Ministry of Interior. In wartime, they are subordinate to the Army and Navy.

The current Chief of the General Staff is Gen. Necdet Özel. The Chief of the General Staff is the Commander of the Armed Forces. In wartime, he acts as the Commander in Chief on behalf of the President, who represents the Supreme Military Command of the TAF on behalf of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.^[5] Commanding the Armed Forces and establishing the policies and programs related with the preparation for combat of personnel, intelligence, operations, organization, training and logistic services are the responsibilities of the General Staff. Furthermore, the General Staff coordinates the military relations of TAF with NATO member states and other friendly nations.

Turkey fought in the United Nations war in Korea. Turkish battalions were key in several battles in Korea. The final battles that led to the cease fire were fought by Turkish troops. The Korean government donated a war memorial for the Turkish soldiers who fought and died in Korea. The Korean pagoda is in Ankara and it was donated in 1973 for the fiftieth anniversary of the Turkish Republic.

After becoming a member of NATO on 18 February 1952, Turkey initiated a comprehensive modernization program for its Armed Forces. Towards the end of the 1980s, a second restructuring process was initiated.

The TAF participate in European Union battlegroups under control of the European Council, as a part of the Italian-Romanian-Turkish Battlegroup, which will be on standby for duty during June–December 2010. It also contributes operational staff to the Eurocorps multinational army corps initiative of the EU and NATO.

History[link]

War of Independence[link]

After the end of World War I, many Ottoman military personnel escaped from Rumelia to Anatolia for participating in the national movement. During the War of Independence, on May 3, 1920, Birinci Ferik Mustafa Fevzi Pasha (Çakmak) was appointed the Minister of National Defence, Mirliva İsmet Pasha (İnönü) was appointed the Minister of the Chief of General Staff of the government of GNA.^[1] But on 3 August 1921, the GNA resigned İsmet Pasha from the Minister of National Defence because of his failure at Eskişehir-Kütahya and on 5 August, just before the Battle of Sakarya, appointed the chairman of GNA Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk) to the commander-in-chief of the Army of the GNA. Turkey won the War of Independence in 1922.

World War II[link]

Turkey remained neutral until the final stages of World War II. In the initial stage of World War II, Turkey signed a treaty of mutual assistance with Great Britain and France.^[6] But after the fall of France, the Turkish government tried to maintain an equal distance between both the Axis and the Allies.^{[citation needed]} After Germany conquered the Balkan states, and the Axis (Germany and Italy) became neighbours with Turkey in the Aegean Sea, Turkey signed a Treaty of Friendship and Non-Aggression with Germany on June 18, 1941.

After the German-Soviet War broke out, the Turkish government sent a military delegation under Lieutenant General Ali Fuat Erden to the German Eastern Front and Germany.^[7] After the German retreat from the Caucasus, the Turkish government got closer with Western Allies and Winston Churchill secretly met with İsmet İnönü at the Yenice Train Station near Adana on 30 January 1943, with the intent of pulling Turkey into the war, on the side of the Allies. A few days before the start of Operation Zitadelle, the Turkish government sent a military delegation under General Cemil Cahit Toydemir to Belgorod and observed the exercises of the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion and its equipment.^[8] But after the failure of Operation Zitadelle, the Turkish government participated in the Second Cairo Conference in 1943, where Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and İsmet İnönü reached an agreement on issues regarding Turkey's possible contribution to the Allies. On 23 February 1945, Turkey declared war against Germany and Japan, after Yalta Conference announced that only states which were in war with Germany and Japan by 1 March 1945 would join the United Nations.^[9]

Korean War[link]

Turkey participated in the Korean War as a member state of the United Nations. It sent the Turkish Brigade to South Korea and suffered 731 deaths in combat. On 18 February 1952, Turkey became a member of NATO.^[10]

Cyprus[link]

On 20 July 1974, the TAF launched an invasion of Cyprus on the pretext of a coup which had been staged by the Cypriot National Guard against president Makarios III with the intention of annexing the island to Greece, but the invasion ended up with Turkey occupying a considerable area on the north part of it and establishing a government on it that only Turkey recognizes. The invasion came after more than a decade of sporadic intercommunal violence between the island's Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots resulting from the constitutional breakdown of 1963. Turkey invoked its role as a guarantor under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee in justification for it.^[11] Turkish forces invaded the island in two waves, occupying 37% of the island's territory in the north-east and evicting 200,000 Greeks from their territories, in an act described by many sources as ethnic cleansing.^[12][13][14]

In the aftermath, Turkish Cypriots declared a separate political entity in the form of the Turkish Federative State of Cyprus in 1975 and by 1983 made a unilateral declaration of independence as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which was recognised only by Turkey. The United Nations continues to recognize the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus according to the terms of its independence in 1960. The conflict continues to overshadow Turkish relations with Greece and with the European Union.

PKK Campaign[link]

An F-16C of the Turkish Air Force, built by the Turkish Aerospace Industries.

The TAF are in a protracted campaign against the PKK, which has involved frequent forays into neighbouring Iraq.

During the 1980s and 1990s many Kurdish rural communities were uprooted in an effort to limit the PKK's base of logistical support.^[15] These actions by the TAF had resulted by the mid-1990s in more than 3,000 Kurdish villages being deserted while according to official figures 378,335 Kurdish people had been displaced and rendered homeless.^[15]

War in Afghanistan 2001-[link]

After the 2003 Istanbul Bombings were linked to Al-Qaeda, Turkey deployed troops to Afghanistan to fight Taliban forces and Al-Qaeda operatives, with the hopes of dismantling both groups. Turkey's responsibilities include providing security in Kabul (it currently leads Regional Command Capital), as well as in Wardak Province, where it leads PRT Maidan Shahr. Turkey was once the third largest contingent within the International Security Assistance Force. Turkey's troops are not engaged in combat operations and Ankara has long resisted pressure from Washington to offer more combat troops. According to the Washington Post, in December 2009, after US President Barack Obama announced he would deploy 30,000 more U.S. soldiers, and that Washington wants others to follow suit, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reacted with the message that Turkey would not contribute additional troops to Afghanistan. "Turkey has already done what it can do by boosting its contingent of soldiers there to 1,750 from around 700 without being asked", said Erdoğan, who stressed that Turkey would continue its training of Afghan security forces.

Humanitarian relief[link]

The TAF have performed "Disaster Relief Operations," as in the 1999 İzmit earthquake in the Marmara region of Turkey. Apart from contributing to NATO, the Turkish Navy also contributes to the Black Sea Naval Co-operation Task Group, which was created in early 2001 by Turkey, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia and Ukraine for search and rescue and other humanitarian operations in the Black Sea.

Structure[link]

Personnel[link]

The TAF consists of three main branches. According to the IISS in 2010, it had an active manpower of around 510,000 personnel. In addition it was estimated that there were 378,700 reserve personnel and 152,200 paramilitary personnel for a combined component strength of around 1,041,900 personnel.^[16]

However in November 2011, it was announced by the Turkish General Staff that active manpower was actually 666,576 active personnel.^[2]

Branches[link]

Turkish troops during the Destined Glory 2005 (Loyal Midas) NATO exercise in Sardinia, Italy, October 7, 2005.

S-353 TCG Preveze, a Type 209/1400 submarine of the Turkish Navy, during the Sorbet Royal 2005 NATO exercise near the Gulf of Taranto, June 24, 2005.

Boeing 737 AEW&C MESA Peace Eagle of the Turkish Air Force during a test flight in Seattle, United States, September 6, 2007.

Army[link]

The Turkish Army has its foundations in remnants of the Ottoman forces inherited after the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. When Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues formed the GNA in Ankara on April 23, 1920, Kâzım Karabekir's XV Corps was the only corps which had any combat value.^[17] On November 8, 1920, the GNA decided to establish a standing army (Düzenli ordu) instead of irregular troops (Kuva-yi Milliye, Kuva-yi Seyyare etc.).^[18] The army of the government of the GNA won the Turkish War of Independence in 1922. In 2010, the Turkish Army had around 402,000 active personnel^[19] and is the second largest army of NATO (after the United States).^[20][21]

As of 2006, the Turkish Army had 1,300 troops in northern Iraq, according to documents released as part of the United States diplomatic cables leak.^[22] The Turkish Army also maintains around 17,500 troops in Northern Cyprus, as part of the Cyprus Turkish Peace Force (Kıbrıs Türk Barış Kuvvetleri, or KTBK.)^[23]

Navy[link]

The Turkish Navy has around 48,600 active personnel^[24] and the total fleet displacement appears to be approximately 259,000 tons.^[25]

The Turkish Navy maintains several Marines and Special Operations units. The Amphibious Marines Brigade (Amfibi Deniz Piyade Tugayı) based in Foça near İzmir consists of 4,500 men, three amphibious battalions, an MBT battalion, an artillery battalion, a support battalion and other company-sized units.^[26] The Su Altı Taarruz (S.A.T. - Underwater Attack) is dedicated to missions including the acquisition of military intelligence, amphibious assault, counter-terrorism and VIP protection; while the Su Altı Savunma (S.A.S. - Underwater Defense) is dedicated to coastal defense operations (such as clearing mines or unexploded torpedoes) and disabling enemy vessels or weapons with underwater operations; as well as counter-terrorism and VIP protection missions.^[26]

Air Force[link]

The Turkish Air Force operates one of the largest combat aircraft fleets of NATO. It has around 60,000 active personnel.^[27] Sabiha Gökçen, who served in the Turkish Air Force, was the first female fighter pilot in military history.^[28]

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.^[29] A total of 90 B61 nuclear bombs are hosted at the Incirlik Air Base, 40 of which are allocated for use by the Turkish Air Force in case of a nuclear conflict, but their use requires the approval of NATO.^[30]

Since August 11, 2004, the headquarters of NATO's Allied Air Component Command for Southern Europe, formerly known as AIRSOUTH, is located in İzmir, Turkey.^[31] The NATO CC-Air HQ İzmir is bound to the Allied Joint Force Command Naples based in Naples, Italy.^[32]

The Muhabere Arama Kurtarma (MAK) special forces, responsible to the Turkish Air Force, specialize in SAR operations.

The Air Force took part in the Operation Deliberate Force of 1995 and Operation Allied Force of 1999, and later participated in the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina, employing two squadrons (one in the Ghedi fighter wing, and after 2000 one in the Aviano fighter wing.)^[33] They returned to Turkey in 2001. In 2006, 4 Turkish F-16 fighter jets were deployed for NATO's Baltic Air Policing operation.

Other branches[link]

Gendarmerie[link]

The Turkish Gendarmerie is responsible for maintaining law and order in rural areas which do not fall under the jurisdiction of regular police forces. The Gendarmerie has around 250,000 active personnel. It is responsible to Ministry of the Interior during the peace time.

The Special Operations (Jandarma Özel Harekat) of the Gendermarie are trained for riot control, urban warfare and counter-terrorism warfare.

The Village guard system was used in the Southeastern Anatolia Region during the Turkey-PKK conflict. As of 2002, there were 90,000 Village Guards equipped with AK-47/74 and RPK/PKM/RPD light machine guns,^[34] but the government is planning to phase out the system.^{[citation needed]}

Coast Guard[link]

The Turkish Coast Guard is responsible for maintaining law and order in the Turkish territorial waters. It has around 2,200 active personnel. It is responsible to the Interior Ministry during peace time.

Modernization[link]

Turkey is one of nine partner states of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) development and production programme.

In 1998, Turkey announced a programme of modernisation worth US$160 billion over a twenty year period in various projects including tanks, fighter jets, helicopters, submarines, warships and assault rifles.^[35] Turkey is a Level 3 contributor to the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme.^[36] The final goal of Turkey is to produce new generation indigenous military equipment and to become increasingly self-sufficient in terms of military technologies.

Budget[link]

The 2010 budget was 26 billion liras.^[37] The Law on the Court of Accounts provides for external ex-post audits of armed forces' expenditure. It also paves the way for audits of extra budgetary resources earmarked for the defence sector, including the Defence Industry Support Fund.^[38]

Role of the military in Turkish politics[link]

After the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk prohibited the political activities of officers in active service with the Military Penal Code numbered 1632 and dated 22 May 1930 (Askeri Ceza Kanunu)^[39]. However, after the coups d'état in 1960, the National Unity Committee (Millî Birlik Komitesi) established the Inner Service Act of the Turkish Armed Forces (Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri İç Hizmet Kanunu) on 4 January 1961 to legitimize their military interventions in politics. In subsequent coup d'états and coup d'état attempts, they show reasons to justify their political activities especially with the article 35 and 85 of this act.^[40]

The Turkish military perceived itself as the guardian of Kemalist ideology, the official state ideology, especially of the secular aspects of Kemalism. The TAF still maintains an important degree of influence over the decision making process regarding issues related to Turkish national security, albeit decreased in the past decades, via the National Security Council.

The military had a record of intervening in politics, removing elected governments four times in the past. Indeed, it assumed power for several periods in the latter half of the 20th century. It executed coups d'état in 1960 (27 May Coup), in 1971 (12 March Coup), and in 1980 (12 September Coup). Most recently, it maneuvered the removal of an Islamic-oriented prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan in 1997 (28 February Process).^[41] The military executed the first democratically elected prime minister Adnan Menderes.^[42]

On April 27, 2007, in advance of the November 4, 2007 presidential election, and in reaction to the politics of Abdullah Gül, who has a past record of involvement in Islamist political movements and banned Islamist parties such as the Welfare Party, the army issued a statement of its interests. It said that the army is a party to "arguments" regarding secularism; that Islamism ran counter to the secular nature of Turkey, and to the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The Army's statement ended with a clear warning that the TAF stood ready to intervene if the secular nature of the Turkish Constitution is compromised, stating that "the Turkish Armed Forces maintain their sound determination to carry out their duties stemming from laws to protect the unchangeable characteristics of the Republic of Turkey. Their loyalty to this determination is absolute."^[43]

Contrary to outsider expectations, the Turkish populace was not uniformly averse to coups; many welcomed the ejection of governments they perceived as unconstitutional.^[44] Members of the military must also comply with the traditions of secularism, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom report in 2008, members who performed prayers or had wives who wore the headscarf, have been charged with “lack of discipline”.^[45]

Paradoxically, the military was an important force in Turkey’s Westernization but now represents an obstacle to Turkey’s desire to join the EU. Most surveys show trust in the military declining - from an average 90 % in 2002 to 60 % in 2011.^[42]

Over a hundred people, including several generals, have been detained or questioned since July 2008 with respect to Ergenekon, an alleged clandestine, ultra-nationalist^[46] organization with ties to members of the country's military and security forces.^[47] The group is accused of terrorism in Turkey.^{[48] [49]}

On 22 February 2010 more than 40 officers arrested and then were formally charged with attempting to overthrow the government with respect to so-called "Sledgehammer" plot. They include four admirals, a general and two colonels, some of them retired, including former commanders of the Turkish navy and air force (three days later, the former commanders of the navy and air force were released). Partially as a result, the Washington Post reported in April 2010 that the military's power had decreased.^[50]

On the eve of the Supreme Military Council of August 2011, the Chief of Staff, along with the Army, Navy, and Air Force commanders, requested their retirement. Appointment of the force commanders in the Supreme Military Council meeting without any delay affirmed the government's control over the appointment of top-level commanders. However, promotions continue to be determined by the General Staff with limited civilian control. The European Commission, in its 2011 regular yearly report on Turkey's progress towards EU accession, said that '..Further reforms on the composition and powers of the Supreme Military Council, particularly on the legal basis of promotions, still need to materialise.'^[51] The service branch commanders continue to report to the Prime Minister instead of the Defence Minister. Following the crisis, Eric Edelman, a former American ambassador to Turkey and number two at the Pentagon under George Bush junior, described the TAF as "a broken and rudderless institution".^[52]

Medals and awards[link]

• Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Honor
• Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Distinguished Service
• Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Distinguished Courage and Self-Sacrifice
• Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Bravery and Valour
• Turkish Armed Forces State Medal of Honor

See also[link]

• Conscription in Turkey
• List of Chiefs of the Turkish General Staff
• Military equipment of Turkey

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• International Institute for Strategic Studies; Hackett, James (ed.) (2010-02-03). The Military Balance 2010. London: Routledge. ISBN 1-85743-557-5. 

Further reading[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Military of Turkey

• Birler, Hayri (1997-02-07). "The Coup Primer". Turkish Daily News. http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnewsmobile.aspx?id=-502727. Retrieved 2008-10-12. 
• Gareth Jenkins, 'Power and unaccountability in the Turkish security forces,' Conflict, Security, and Development, Volume 1, Issue 1.

v t e Turkey topics People Turkish people (list) Ottoman Sultans Atatürk History (timeline) Early Sultanate of Rum Anatolian Turkish Beyliks Ottoman Foundation Interregnum Rise Growth Stagnation Decline Dissolution Partitioning Republic War of Independence Single-party period Multi-party period By topic Constitutional Economic Military Politics / Government President Prime Minister Parliament Council of Ministers Political parties Elections EU accession Foreign relations Military Human rights LGBT rights Secularism Ottomanism Kemalism Neo-Ottomanism Deep state Legal system Constitution Constitutional Court Official Gazette Crime Law enforcement Geography Anatolia Thrace Regions Provinces Districts Cities Metropolitan centers Environmental issues Mountains Islands Rivers Lakes Peninsulas Capes Bays Turkish Riviera Economy / Transport Industries Companies Stock Exchange Central Bank Other banks EU Customs Union Southeastern Anatolia Project Tourism Currency Railways Aviation Demographics / Religion Turkish language Languages of Turkey Education Religion Islam Turkish population Turkish diaspora Immigration Culture / Media Names Architecture of Turkey Ottoman architecture Art Cinema Cuisine Dance Festivals Folklore Public holidays Literature Music Smoking Sport Theatre Wine Newspapers Radio stations Television Symbols Emblem Flag Presidential Seal National Anthem Turkey portal

Anita McNaught (born 1965) is a United Kingdom/New Zealand dual nationality freelance journalist and television presenter, currently working for Al Jazeera English.

Born in London in 1965, at the age of 20 she moved to New Zealand where she worked for 12 years before returning to the United Kingdom in 1997. She has worked as a television reporter for Television New Zealand (TVNZ), CNN and Al Jazeera English, and has also contributed prominently to radio as a regular contributor on Radio New Zealand - and in print journalism.

Career[link]

At the age of 22, McNaught began work as a reporter for TVNZ. She went on to become a popular presenter for a number of news and current affairs programmes. In 1995, she moved to the competitor channel TV3 where she worked as a reporter on the current affairs programme 20/20.

Upon her return to the United Kingdom in 1997, she joined the BBC as a freelance journalist, presenting various programmes on BBC World News such as The World Today and Asia Today, as well as general news bulletins, until 2004. During her time in the country, she also presented BBC Two's Open Minds arts and culture series in 1999, as well as Channel 4 television's miscarriage of justice series Clear My Name in 1998. Between 2000 and 2001, she also wrote features for The Times newspaper. Upon leaving BBC World, she continued to work on a freelance basis for other BBC departments, in one case working on BBC Radio 5 Live's 5 Live Report.

McNaught has covered events from the studio such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings of Winnie Mandela, and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. She anchored rolling coverage of the entry of UN forces into Kosovo and Baghdad, and with Al Jazeera covered events in Libya.

She has also covered stories for the media criticism show Eating Media Lunch, and was a founding board member of WIFT^[1] - Women in Film and Television - in New Zealand.

Olaf Wiig[link]

Her ex-husband, Olaf Wiig, is a cameraman for Fox News. On August 14, 2006, he was taken hostage in the Gaza Strip along with colleague Steve Centanni. Wiig and Centanni were released after 13 days in captivity, August 27, 2006, having appeared in a videotape saying - at gunpoint - that they had "embraced Islam with the Islamic prophet Muhammad as their leader". Upon release, Olaf and Steve were reunited with family and friends. Wiig and McNaught were then taken to New York City in Rupert Murdoch's (owner of News Corp, Fox's parent company) private jet and reunited with Wiig's New Zealand family members who had flown to New York.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• BBC World profile of Anita McNaught
• New Zealanders of the Year: Anita McNaught, The New Zealand Herald — 9 December 2006
• New Zealand Listener magazine interview with Anita McNaught — 20 March 2004
• Anita McNaught interviews Robert Fisk
• Anita McNaught interviews Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
• In 2008 she worked for Fox news