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Turkish Armed Forces (Turkish: Türk Silahlı
Kuvvetleri or 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 Dept. of Internal Affairs in peacetime and are
subordinate to the Army and Navy Commands respectively. In wartime, both
have law enforcement and military functions. The Turkish Armed forces,
with a combined troop strength of 680,000 people, is the second largest
standing force in NATO after the United States. Currently, 45,000 troops
are stationed in Turkish-recognised Northern Cyprus and UN-administered
Kosovo. Every fit male Turkish citizen has to serve military service for
varying time periods ranging between 1 month to 15 months depending on
his education, job location, and occasional paid options.
After becoming a member of the NATO Alliance on February 18, 1952, the
Turkish Republic initiated a comprehensive modernization program for its
Armed Forces. Towards the end of the 1980s, a restructuring process was
initiated in the Turkish Armed Forces. Recently, the picture of Atatürk
was removed from the logo of the Turkish Armed Forces following the
modernization. This action led to significant debate in the Türkiye
Büyük Millet Meclisi (TBMM) and the picture of Atatürk was placed back
in because of public pressure.
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.
The Commander-in-Chief is Chief General Staff General Hilmi Özkök.
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MILITARY
