Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0377/03777.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 30KB | 479 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03777}
$Pretitle{280}
$Title{Turkey
Chapter 5C.   Manpower: Sources and Quality}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Jean R. Tartter}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{turkish
army
training
air
military
service
forces
officers
units
nato}
$Date{1987}
$Log{}
Country:     Turkey
Book:        Turkey, A Country Study
Author:      Jean R. Tartter
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1987

Chapter 5C.   Manpower: Sources and Quality

     As expressed in Article 72 of the Constitution, "National service is the
right and duty of every Turk. The manner in which this service shall be
performed, or considered as performed, either in the armed forces or in the
public service, shall be regulated by law." As of 1987, the terms of the
implementing legislation, Military Service Law No. 1111, mandated that all
male citizens over the age of twenty who had three years or less of university
education and were physically qualified had to register and were liable to be
called up to perform military service. For male citizens who had completed
four or more years of university education, the applicable statute was the
Reserve Officer Law No. 1076.

     Until 1970 the required period of active duty service was two years for
those assigned to the army and air force and three years for those entering
the navy. After that date, the service obligation was reduced to twenty months
and, in the mid-1980s, to eighteen months for conscripts in all three
branches. There were no minimum educational or intelligence requirements.
Citizens who passed the physical examination were called up during their
twentieth year, but induction could be deferred until they completed the
educational courses in which they were enrolled. Those citizens continuing
with their higher education could postpone military service until age
twenty-nine in order to obtain a bachelor's degree and until age thirty-three
for a master's or doctoral degree. Citizens employed in public service could
receive a deferment if their work was regarded as essential.

     Those conscripts who had completed higher education programs lasting less
than four years were inducted for a period of eighteen months. However, if the
number of available males exceeded the needs of the services, the military
obligation might be fulfilled by a three-month period of basic training,
followed by payment of a sum for exemption from further service. Citizens
abroad could also secure exemption by payment of a stipulated sum in
convertible foreign currency.

     University and college graduates fulfilled their military obligations as
reserve officers with an eighteen-month period of active service of following
some previous preparation at their educational institutions. Four months of
the service period consisted of cadet training, followed by fourteen months of
service in the branch to which appointed. Reserve officers could apply to
become second lieutenants in the regular service at the conclusion of this
period. During the 1980s, the limited openings for junior officers temporarily
led to a reduction of the service period to the four-month training phase.

     After completing their active duty obligation, conscripts were subject to
recall in periods of national emergency until age forty-six if physically fit
and not otherwise exempted. In practice, it was only for a few years after
discharge that conscripts were considered part of the reserve system with
specific unit assignments. Annual periods of active duty were not customary
for most such reservists. In 1987 the number in this category was reported to
be 951,000 (808,000 in the army, 73,000 in the navy, and 70,000 in the air
force).

     Turkey has always had an ample supply of personnel for its military
needs. In 1986 roughly 533,000 males reached the age of 20, and the number of
males aged 15 to 49 who were fit for active duty was estimated at 7.5 million.
The call up for all branches of the armed forces totaled about 370,000
annually. The Ministry of National Defense determined the enlisted quota for
each branch upon recommendation of the general staff. Owing to the
availability of young men reaching conscription age, the personnel strength of
the armed forces rose from about 569,000 in 1981 to 692,000 in 1986. In the
past, surplus candidates had been exempted from service after basic training
for social service work in community action or literacy programs. Apparently,
such a program was no longer in effect in 1987.

     In the late 1980s, some foreign military observers were convinced that
reducing in the overall size of the armed forces would be beneficial. They
pointed out that most of the Turkish units were equipped with outmoded weapons
handed down from other NATO armies and that the modernization efforts would
have limited efficacy unless the army was scaled down to balance manpower with
the new equipment being reduced. To these observers, the unit strength of the
Turkish forces defending the NATO southeastern flanks in Thrace and the
Transcaucasus border region was misleading because of deficiencies in
firepower, armor, and mobility.

     Efforts to reduce the size of the military establishment would conflict,
however, with vested interests and the long-held tradition of universal
military service. Moreover, military service was regarded as bestowing certain
social values, instilling a spirit of national cohesion and discipline, and
offering an opportunity to expand training and literacy, especially among
young men drafted from the more remote rural sections of the country. Military
service also helped moderate the perennially high unemployment rate in the
civilian sector.

     The fighting qualities of the Turkish soldier are legendary, as the early
Ottoman period, the Battle of Gallipoli during World War I, the War of
Independence, and the army's performance in Korea testify. Strong, tough, and
fatalistic, Turkish soldiers have shown an unusual ability and willingness to
accommodate to privation. The combat abilities of the Turkish sailor and
airman also have been noteworthy in the past. Readily adaptable to naval life,
the Turkish sailor demonstrated his skills throughout the Ottoman period, and
Turkish naval officers made significant contributions to the evolution of
modern naval tactics. The Turkish airman also has been considered effective
and up to the general standards of NATO combat personnel.

     Military observers have commented on the resolution displayed by Turkish
units in fulfilling their missions during NATO exercises in spite of
shortcomings in equipment, mobility, and communications. Nevertheless, except
for the limited combat action experienced by two Turkish army divisions during
the Cyprus incursion in 1974 and the increasingly active Kurdish insurgency,
the military establishment has not been tested under fire since its action in
Korea during the early 1950s.

     Observers have been impressed by the strenuous training regimen of
Turkish soldiers, which emphasizes physical prowess and personal endurance.
Because the training did not, however, tend to encourage small-unit and
individual initiative, the military tended to respond in given situations only
after receiving definite commands from above. It was believed that these
characteristics explained in part why the army had not been entirely
successful in dealing with small bands of Kurdish guerrillas.

     Since 1955, when the government opened certain military specialties to
women, moderate numbers have volunteered for active duty. Recruitment was
suspended for a time but was resumed in the early 1980s when some female
university graduates were again taken in as pharmacists, doctors, dentists,
and administrative or communications specialists. No women were accepted for
the enlisted ranks or for assignments that could expose them to combat or
hazardous duty. As of 1987, the highest ranking woman in the services was a
colonel.

The Army

     The army (sometimes referred to as the land forces) was by far the