| General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
| Turkish:Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri Genelkurmay Başkanlığı | |
 Turkish General Staff Headquarters Building,Kızılay, Ankara. | |
| Founded | 3 May 1920 |
| Country |  Turkey |
| Type | staff |
| Part of | Turkish Armed Forces |
| Garrison/HQ | General Staff Building,Ankara |
| Commanders | |
| Chief | GeneralSelçuk Bayraktaroğlu |
| Second Chief | Generalİrfan Özsert [tr] |
TheGeneral Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces (Turkish:Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri Genelkurmay Başkanlığı,abbreviation: TSK Gnkur. Bşk.lığı) is the highest staff organization in the Turkish Armed Forces.
Source:[1]
The Chief of the General Staff is the most senior ranked officer in theTurkish Armed Forces. The currentChief of the General Staff isMetin Gürak.[2] His predecessor wasHulusi Akar. According to theConstitution of Turkey, the Chief of the General Staff reports to thePresident and serves as Commander of theTurkish Armed Forces.
In times of war, the Chief of the General Staff assumes the authority ofCommander in Chief on behalf of thePresident, which represents the authority ofCommander in Chief on behalf of theParliament. 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 ofNATO 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 theGrand 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 ofCommander of the Turkish Land Forces prior to their appointment. Although it is not a legal requirement.
The hierarchy, representation and employment of theTurkish Armed Forces within the state organization is regulated by theconstitution of Turkey.
TheTurkish Armed Forces consists ofGeneral Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, theTurkish Land Forces, theTurkish Naval Forces and theTurkish Air Forces.
According to the constitution, the'Commander in Chief' is within the spiritual entity of theGrand National Assembly and represented by thePresident 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.
TheChief of the General Staff is subordinate to theMinister of National Defense and responsible for:[1]
The Chief of the General Staff is also,Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in the name of thePresident, in wartime.
The commanders of the three services (Army, Navy and Air Force) reportsdirectly to theMinister of National Defense.
| President (Commander-in-Chief) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of National Defense | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chief of the General Staff | Commander of the Land Forces | Commander of the Naval Forces | Commander of the Air Forces | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Ministry of National Defence Organization Chart".
Special Forces Command (Turkish:Özel Kuvvetler Komutanlığı), nicknamed Maroon Berets (Turkish:Bordo Bereliler) because of their distinctive service headgear, are thespecial operations unit of theTurkish Armed Forces. Special Forces Command is not aligned to any force command in TAF, getting orders directly from the General Staff.
The Chief of the Turkish General Staff (Turkish: Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri Genelkurmay Başkanı) is the chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces (Turkish: Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri). He is appointed by the President of Turkey, who is the commander-in-chief. The position dates to the period of the Government of theGrand National Assembly of Turkey and the Turkish War of Independence. The post has its own rank insignia, which is the OF-9 (fullGeneral officer orAdmiral of the Turkish Armed Forces) 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.
| Leadership |  | |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Field armies | ||
| Services | ||
| Internal security | ||
| Equipment | ||
| Education | ||
