This is how Erdogan’s Turkey is armed
The Armed Forces of Turkey are the second largest NATO army after the United States and the eighth largest army in the world. Giuseppe Gagliano's analysis of Turkish military power
The Turkish Armed Forces are the second largest NATO army after the United States and the eighth largest army in the world. 17th in the world in the ranking of military spending, Ankara allocates a budget of around 19 billion dollars every year for its defense, or 1.9% of its GDP. The numbers are estimated at 350,000, a figure to which must be added the 170,000 men serving in the gendarmerie and the 54,000 armed auxiliaries recruited in the south-east of the country as part of the fight against the PKK.
Military service, which has always been perceived as a rite of passage – at least among the popular classes who consider it a threshold to cross before embarking on a working life and starting a family – is mandatory in Turkey for all men who reach the age of 20 years provided they are physically and mentally fit. However, there is an option to upgrade it until the age of 29 if you are studying at a high school. The Turkish system has never considered a civilian alternative for those who would rather contribute to national defense than through arms. Even conscientious objection has never been recognized as a right, which has prompted the European Court of Human Rights to condemn Turkey several times, against the objectors that the Turkish courts are repressing.
Following the extensive reforms undertaken within military institutions after the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, military academies, preparatory schools for non-commissioned officers and military high schools have been closed to make way for the University of Defense Nazionale ( Milli Savunma Üniversitesi ), inaugurated in February 2017, under the supervision of the Ministry of Defense. The land, naval and air military academies were annexed to this single rectorate after their reopening, while the Gendarmerie and the Coast Guard Academy depend on the Ministry of the Interior.
According to article 117 of the constitution, the president of the republic is the commander in chief of the armed forces and it is he who appoints the chief of staff. General Yaşar Güler has held this post since 2018 and reports to the Minister of Defense. The latter, retired General Hulusi Akar, was himself Chief of Staff between 2015 and 2018. His appointment had created a real surprise, because he is the first to make this leap between the General Staff and the Ministry. . Promotions, resignations and possible expulsions are decided within the High Military Council (YAŞ) which meets at least once a year under the presidency of the Vice President of the Republic. In total, the Turkish armed forces number 250 generals and admirals, 26,000 officers and 65,000 non-commissioned officers.
Regarding arms exports, the main heavy arms exporters to Turkey are currently the United States, Italy and Spain. Furthermore, the United States has been the country's main supplier since the end of World War II, with Turkish-American military cooperation beginning in 1947 with the Truman Doctrine. Once major suppliers, Germany and Israel are now far behind. France sold military equipment to Turkey between 2009 and 2019 for 460 million euros, in particular radar systems, or about 1% of its deliveries during this decade.
The purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system in 2019 , at an estimated price of $ 2.5 billion, has certainly caused a lot of negative reactions within NATO and caused Turkey's exclusion from the F- project. 35.
However, the army still relies on the main German Leopard tanks, as well as the American M48 and M60. The Air Force is mainly composed of American F-4 Phantom II and F-16. Furthermore, these are built under license in Turkey. The navy opts for submarines and frigates of German or American design also it is necessary to point out that since the 90s, the debate on whether or not to build or buy an aircraft carrier has not yet been resolved.
Once highly dependent on its imports into this area, Turkey is now a major producer of military equipment and materials. Currently, three Turkish companies, Aselsan, TAI and Roketsan, are among the top 100 defense companies in the world.
Turkey is increasingly relying on its local arms industry, strengthening its strategic autonomy. Today, around 70% of its military equipment is manufactured in the country, up from 20% in 2000. Furthermore, the Turkish government aims to achieve technological independence by 2023.
The technological advancement of the Turkish military industry has spilled a lot of ink especially in the field of armed and unarmed drones, given the ubiquity of Bayraktar drones in several operational theaters in recent years. Turkey is, together with the United States and the United Kingdom, among the main users of armed drones and one of the most advanced countries in terms of production. Ankara is deploying these remote-controlled aircraft in Syria, Iraq and Libya, and donated them to Azerbaijan during the recent Nagorno-Karabakh conflict . Furthermore, military drones have made Turkey an exporter in the arms market, selling them to Ukraine, Qatar and Pakistan.
Not only that, Aselsan has just announced that the Turkish armed forces will soon be able to include autonomous armored combat vehicles designed by this Turkish company specializing in the production of communication and cyber defense systems in its inventory. Another example that shows that Turkey continues to invest heavily to better equip its army.
Regarding the deployment capacity of the Turkish army, this has a long tradition of deployment abroad, which dates back to Turkey's participation in the Korean War in 1950, when it benefited from the logistical help of the American army alongside the troops. of the United Nations. Turkey's active participation in this war constitutes a political and diplomatic turning point, sealing Turkey's position in the Western camp in the context of the Cold War. It is not insignificant that Turkey's accession to NATO took place in February 1952. Apart from that, a large-scale foreign operation during the Cold War was the landing of the Turkish armed forces on the island of Cyprus, located about 70 km away. from the Turkish coast, in July 1974, an amphibious operation supported by airborne paratroopers. Turkey still has forty thousand soldiers in Cyprus. Moreover, since the 1990s, raids on Iraqi territory have become frequent to fight the PKK, which maintains its bases there.
Since the end of the Cold War, Turkey has volunteered to participate in numerous UN and NATO operations, notably in Somalia (1992), Bosnia (1995), Kosovo (1999) and Afghanistan (2001). Currently, Turkish troops are stationed in 13 countries (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Qatar, Afghanistan, Mali, Somalia and the Central African Republic) for maintenance missions of peace, on the basis of bilateral agreements or the result of autonomous choices.
The military bases inaugurated in Qatar in 2015 and in Somalia in 2017 reflect Ankara's desire to maintain a permanent military presence in strategic regions. Being at the center of many crises, Turkey does not hesitate to use the military tool to influence its geopolitical environment. This is how he gained a leading role in Syria and Libya, not to mention his involvement, albeit indirectly, alongside the more recent Azerbaijani forces.
However, to fully understand the role of military power within Turkey we must not forget the importance and relevance that the military has within the modern Turkish state. The Turkish army sees itself as the backbone of the state. The founders of the republic, in particular Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his prime minister, who succeeded him as president, İsmet İnönü, were generals, heroes of the "national struggle" (milli mücadele) launched in 1919, which led to the establishment of the republican regime in 1923. Throughout Turkey's political history, marked by military coups, the army has had considerable weight, sometimes directly under the military regimes (1960-61; 1980-83), sometimes through the Security Council national (MGK), an institution that has always had a keen eye on political evolution. Six of the twelve Turkish presidents came from the ranks of the army. The PKK's fierce fight against terrorism, which has been going on for almost forty years now, has only strengthened its political role. Long considered a guarantor of secularism, it now seems to be dealing with the Turkish Islamic-conservative power. Although various currents ranging from Atlanticism to Eurasism cross the officer corps, it is not easy to assess their real weight within the army. In any case, the army command remains deeply nationalist, with an attitude of absolute hostility on the Kurdish question and eager to have more influence in the country's foreign policy.
However, in order to maintain the current project of military power, Turkey too, like all European and non-European countries, has rapidly adapted to the new highly sophisticated weapons from a technological point of view. Indeed cyber defense has become one of the fundamental tasks of the Atlantic Alliance and Turkey is adapting to it. The Turkish Cyber Defense Command was established in 2012 to oversee information security and ensure the country's cyber defense. With the technical support of TUBITAK, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, and SISAMER, the Cyber Defense Center directly headed by the Presidency of the Republic, Turkey aims to become "a global brand in terms of cybersecurity" , according to President Erdoğan. This year, the National Cyber Incident Response Center (USOM) has put in place all the necessary strategies to defend Turkish interests from hostile actions in cyberspace.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/nato-droni-e-cyber-come-si-arma-la-turchia/ on Sat, 12 Dec 2020 06:16:28 +0000.