General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces


The General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces is the highest staff organization in the Turkish Armed Forces.

Chief of the General Staff

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The Chief of the General Staff is the most senior ranked officer in the Turkish Armed Forces. The current Chief of the General Staff is Metin Gürak. His predecessor was Hulusi Akar. According to the Constitution of Turkey, the Chief of the General Staff reports to the President and serves as Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces.
In times of war, the Chief of the General Staff assumes the authority of Commander in Chief on behalf of the President, which represents the authority of Commander in Chief on behalf of the Parliament. Commanding the Armed Forces and establishing the policies and programs related with the preparation of personnel for combat, intelligence, operations, organization, training and logistic services are the responsibilities of the General Staff. Furthermore, the General Staff coordinates the military relations of the Turkish Armed Forces with its counterparts in the member states of NATO and other friendly nations.
The Chief of the General Staff holds the fifth-highest rank in the state protocol list, behind the President of the Republic, the President of the Constitutional Court, the Chairman of the Grand National Assembly and the Vice President, on the protocol of the Republic of Turkey.
It is customary for the Chief of the General Staff to have held the post of Commander of the Turkish Land Forces prior to their appointment. Although it is not a legal requirement.

Turkey's defence organisation

The hierarchy, representation and employment of the Turkish Armed Forces within the state organization is regulated by the constitution of Turkey.
The Turkish Armed Forces consists of General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, the Turkish Land Forces, the Turkish Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Forces.
According to the constitution, the 'Commander in Chief' is within the spiritual entity of the [Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Grand National Assembly] and represented by the President who is responsible to the Grand National Assembly for national security and the preparation of the Turkish Armed Forces to defend the country. However, the authority to declare a state of war and send the Turkish Armed Forces to foreign countries or allow foreign armed forces to be stationed in Turkey require a vote of approval from the Turkish Parliament. Although president can decide to use the Armed Forces for defence of the country if there is a sudden outside attack against the country.
Minister of National Defence is subordinate to the President and responsible for recruitment, procurement, production, logistics, medical care and other tasks in the preparation of Armed Forces and its personnel for military operations.
The 'Chief of the General Staff is subordinate to the Minister of National Defense and responsible for:
  • Preparing the Armed Forces and its personnel for military operations
  • Gathering military intelligence
  • Organization and training of the Armed Forces
  • Management of the logistic services
The Chief of the General Staff is also, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in the name of the President, in wartime.
The commanders of the three services reports directly' to the Minister of National Defense.

Special Forces Command

Special Forces Command, nicknamed Maroon Berets because of their distinctive service headgear, are the special operations unit of the Turkish Armed Forces. Special Forces Command is not aligned to any force command in TAF, getting orders directly from the General Staff.

Chief of the Turkish General Staff

The Chief of the Turkish General Staff  is the chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces . He is appointed by the President of Turkey, who is the commander-in-chief. The position dates to the period of the Government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the Turkish War of Independence. The post has its own rank insignia, which is the OF-9 rank of the Chief of Staff's personal service branch surrounded by laurel wreaths. In practice, the position has always been held by a Turkish Land Forces officer. The current Chief of the General Staff is General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, since 5 August 2025.