Turkish Armed Forces
From Free net encyclopedia
| Turkish Armed Forces
Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri | |
| Image:TAF Logo.jpg | |
| Military manpower | |
| Conscription age | 20 years of age |
| Availability | males age 20–49: 16,756,323 (2005 est.) |
| Fit for military service | males age 20-49: 13,905,901 (2005 est.) |
| Active troops | 679,734(Ranked 7th) |
| Military expenditures | |
| USD figure | $12.155 billion (2003) [1] |
| Percent of GDP | 5.3% (2003) [2] |
Turkish Armed Forces (Turkish: Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri TSK) consists of the Army, Navy (includes Naval Air and Naval Infantry) and Air Force. The Gendarmerie and Coast Guard operate as the parts of internal security forces in peacetime and are subordinate to the Army and Navy Commands respectively. In wartime, both have law enforcement and military functions.
The Commander-in-Chief since 2002 is Chief General Staff General Hilmi Özkök. The current commander of the land forces, Yaşar Büyükanıt, is to replace Özkök at the Chief of General Staff in 2006.
After becoming a member of the NATO Alliance on 18 February 1952, the Turkish Republic initiated a comprehensive modernization program for its Armed Forces. Towards the end of the 1980s, a second restructuring process was initiated.
The Turkish Armed forces, with a combined troop strength of 635,500 soldiers, is the second largest standing force in NATO after the United States. Currently, 36,000 troops are stationed in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which is recognized only by Turkey and the OIC (N.B. The OIC recognizes the TRNC as the Turkish Cypriot State, as envisaged by the Anan Plan).
The Armed forces have traditionally been a political powerful institution, and have on several occasions intervened directly in political affairs. The role of the military in Turkish politics, mainly through the National Security Council, is however declining, as Turkey undergoes democratization reforms in order to comply with EU's Copenhagen criteria.
Contents |
Army
Image:Turkish Land Forces (Army).gif Template:Main
Branch of Turkish Armed Forces. At short notice, the Turkish Army can deploy 90,000 to 100,000 men to conduct joint operations. The Turkish Army can conduct air assault operations with lift capability of 5 or 6 battalions at a time day and night.
Air Force
Image:Turkish Air Forces.gif Template:Main
Branch of Turkish Armed Forces, Turkish Air Force, after US Air Force and Israeli Air Force, has the third highest number of F-16 aircraft in the world. Turkish Air Force can participate in exercises conducted overseas. With in-flight refueling capability, Turkish aircraft can join live exercises in central Europe and return to home bases in Turkey.
Navy
Image:Turkish Navy.gif Template:Main
Branch of Turkish Armed Forces, Turkish Navy can participate in international operations and exercises beyond Mediterranean Sea. Submarines can individually navigate up to 15,000 nautical miles and return to home bases.
Gendarmerie (Military Police)
Image:Turkish Gendarmerie.jpg Template:Main
Branch of Turkish Armed Forces, Turkish Gendarmerie maintains order in rural areas where police coverage is not available.
Coast Guard
Image:Turkish Coast Guard.gif Template:Main
Branch of the Turkish Armed Forces during war time, the Turkish Coast Guard is responsible for controlling the coasts and preventing smuggling.
The role of the military in Turkish politics
Template:Main Since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded the modern secular republic of Turkey in 1923, the Turkish military has perceived itself as guardians of the Kemalism, the official state ideology, even though Atatürk himself insisted separating the military from politics. In concrete terms, the military has intervened politically when they have felt a threat to the nationalism and the territorial unity from the Kurdish miniority and when they have felt a threat to the secularism from Islamists. The role of the military has explicitly been underlined by the two direct coups d’états in 1960 and 1980, the 1971 coup by memorandum, and what later has been labelled a ‘post modern coup’ in 1997. The military maintains a, however decreased, influence over politics through the National Security Council.
Humanitarian relief
Turkish Armed Forces can perform "Disaster Relief Operations" as in the 1999 Izmit earthquake in the Marmara region of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces can conduct peace-support operations anywhere in the world with a four battalion task force.
Considering that Turkish Armed Forces may increasingly participate in peace support operations during the first quarter of the 21st century, there is a special importance to developing its current capabilities in this field.
Apart from contributing to NATO, the Turkish Navy is also available for the Black Sea Naval Co-operation Task Group (BLACKSEAFOR) , which was created in early 2004 by Turkey, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia and Ukraine for search and rescue and other humanitarian operations in the Black Sea.
Source
This article contains information that originally came from a Turkish Armed Forces website, in the public domain.
See also
External links
- Template:CIA WFB 2004
- Turkish Armed Forces Website
- Turkish Army Website in Turkish
- Turkish Air Force Website
- Turkish Navy Website
- Turkish Gendarmerie Website in Turkish
- Global Military & Defence News, Pictures and Discussions DefenceTalk.com
- Unofficial Turkish Navy Website
- Unofficial Turkish Armed Forces Website in English
- ASAM, Turkish think tank, close to the ultra-nationalist militarist circles
- TUSAM, Turkish think tank
- U.S.A.K., Turkish think tank, focusing on the security and IR issues
| North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) | Image:Flag of NATO.svg |
|---|---|
| Belgium | Bulgaria | Canada | Czech Republic | Denmark | Estonia | France | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Italy | Latvia | Lithuania | Luxembourg | The Netherlands | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Turkey | United Kingdom | United States of America | |
| Candidate Countries: Albania | Croatia | Republic of Macedonia | |
