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Turkey Military

Turkish Armed Forces (Turkish: Türk Silahli Kuvvetleri (TSK)) consists of the Army, the Navy (includes Naval Air and Naval Infantry) and the Air Force. The Gendarmerie and the Coast Guard operate as parts of the 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 Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) since August 28, 2006 is General Yasar Büyükanit.

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 TAF, with a combined troop strength of 1,043,550 soldiers (Economist Intelligence Unit), is the second largest standing force in NATO after the United States. Currently, 36,000 troops are also stationed in the north of Cyprus.
The Turkish Army has contributed to a number of peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan, provided logistics and military support to the coalition forces during both Gulf wars and maintains special forces units in Northern Iraq. In 2006, the Turkish parliament deployed a Turkish peacekeeping force of Navy patrol vessels and around 700 ground troops as part of an expanded United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in wake of the 2006 Israeli-Lebanon conflict.

An Overview :

Military branches Turkish Armed Forces (TSK): Land Forces, Naval Forces (includes Naval Air and Naval Infantry), Air Force
Military manpower - military age and obligation 20 years of age (2004)
Military manpower - availability males age 20-49: 16,756,323 (2005 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 20-49:males age 20-49: 13,905,901 (2005 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually males: 679,734 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure $12.155 billion (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 5.3% (2003)
Military - note in the early 1990s, the Turkish Land Force was a large but badly equipped infantry force; there were 14 infantry divisions, but only one was mechanized, and out of 16 infantry brigades, only six were mechanized; the overhaul that has taken place since has produced highly moblie forces with greatly enhanced firepower in accordance with NATO's new strategic concept (2005)


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