Turkey's military – the armed forces at a glance

The defence budget for 2011 provides for 25 billion US dollars.[104] In addition there are expenses that are not listed in the budget. Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952 and, with approx. 612,000 soldiers[104], provides the second-largest army within the alliance after the United States. The Turkish military is also deployed domestically in disaster relief. Due to many strategically important bases, Turkey serves as a hub for military interventions in the Middle East.

In Turkey there is general compulsory military service for every man from the age of 20. Deferments are possible for university students, workers abroad or in case of serious illness. Over time the length of military service has been reduced from 18 months to 15 months and most recently to 12 months. At a meeting of the Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri (TSK for short; in English, Turkish Armed Forces) on 6 December 2018, the debate was opened on reducing it further to 9 months.[105] There is no option of civilian alternative service. Since 3 August 2018, Turkish citizens living in Turkey have had the option of exempting themselves from regular service for 15,000 TL, equivalent to €2,700, and instead completing basic training of 21 days. However, this is subject to the condition that the applicant must have been born before 1 January 1994. Citizens living abroad have the option of exempting themselves from military service completely by making a payment. Initially the required payment was the equivalent of €10,000; in 2016 it was adjusted to €1,000 and since 2018 it has been somewhat higher at €2,000. A university degree completed in Turkey shortens compulsory military service to 6 months.

In 2018 Turkey ranked 20th out of 155 countries in the Global Militarisation Index (GMI).

Political role

The Turkish armed forces see themselves as guardians of democracy and Kemalism. They traditionally claim a “veto, guarantor and guardian function”.[108] They have already seized power in coups twice in order to end political crises, namely in 1960 and 1980 (in 1971 the Demirel government was also forced to resign). The course of both coups was similar: the military remained in power for a few years and, after a constitutional reform, handed it back to a civilian government. However, the military's aims differed in the two coups. The coup d'état of May 1960 was carried by rather left-leaning middle-ranking officers and led to a more democratic constitution. The coup of September 1980 came from the generals and the right-wing camp and led to a new constitution. In 1997 the military's intervention led to the resignation of the government of Necmettin Erbakan and his Refah Partisi. However, this last overthrow took place without armed force.

In the night of 16 July 2016 a coup attempt took place; it failed. The government (President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Yıldırım cabinet) used the failure of this military coup to dismiss tens of thousands of employees in the military, police, judiciary and education. Parts of the opposition and the media called this a "civilian coup".[109] More than 11,000 employees of ministries, 2900 judges and public prosecutors and 15,000 civil servants were dismissed. The Ministry of Education also revoked the teaching licences of 21,000 employees of private institutions, and the Council of Higher Education demanded the resignation of all rectors of private and state universities. Instead of proceedings under the rule of law against those responsible for the coup, President Erdoğan spoke openly of "purges".[110] Thousands of civil servants were also dismissed after the constitutional referendum in Turkey on 16 April 2017.

As part of the efforts to join the EU, parliament limited the political power of the military in 2003.

Before the reforms, the military held decisive power in the National Security Council. The council met monthly under the chairmanship of the President and dealt with all current domestic and foreign policy issues.

Officially the council had only an advisory function. Unofficially, however, this amounted to the military having authority to issue instructions to politicians. After the reform, the council's function is reduced to policy advice and, in addition, the number of military members on the council is reduced to a single Chief of General Staff.

The council is now also headed by a civilian as Secretary General, who is subordinate to the Deputy Prime Minister. In addition, from 2003 the entire military budget is placed under parliamentary control, which was not the case before the reform.

The military was able to determine military spending itself and maintained hidden items for military expenditure in the overall budget.

Missions abroad

Standard of the Turkish Brigade during the Korean War

Missions abroad of the Turkish military after the Second World War:

• UN mission in the Korean War (1950–1953)
• Invasion of Cyprus (1974): Since the invasion, a larger force has been stationed in the north of the island of Cyprus (in 2005 there were approx. 30,000 soldiers).
• Support of the UN mission in Somalia (1993–1994)
• SFOR NATO mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (since 1995)
• KFOR NATO mission in Kosovo (1999)
• Iraq: At the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, repeated operations on Iraqi soil against the PKK. Since 2005 several thousand Turkish soldiers have been stationed in northern Iraq. They are intended to prevent attacks by PKK fighters into Turkey.
• ISAF NATO mission in Afghanistan (since 2001): From June 2002 to February 2003 the mission was under Turkish leadership. Currently 1795 Turkish soldiers are deployed. From February to August 2005 the command was again under Turkish leadership for six months.
• Turkish military offensive in northern Syria 2016/17: Operation Euphrates Shield, military offensive in Idlib Governorate (since October 2017), Turkish military offensive on Afrin (since January 2018): Operation Olive Branch