Hilmi Özkök | |
|---|---|
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| Chief of the General Staff of Turkey | |
| In office 28 August 2002 – 30 August 2006 | |
| President | Ahmet Necdet Sezer |
| Preceded by | Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu |
| Succeeded by | Yaşar Büyükanıt |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1940-08-04)August 4, 1940 (age 85) |
| Spouse | Özenç Özkök |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Turkish Army |
| Years of service | 1959–2006 |
| Rank | General |
GeneralHilmi Özkök (born 4 August 1940) is a Turkish general who served as the 24thChief of the General Staff of theTurkish Armed Forces. He took up that post on August 28, 2002, and served until August 30, 2006, when he retired and was succeeded by GeneralYaşar Büyükanıt.
Özkök has expressed support forTurkey's alignment with the European Union, sought a reduced role for theNational Security Council, and opposed his peers' plans to stage a coup.[1][2][3][4]
Hilmi Özkök was born inTurgutlu,Manisa Province, and has been a career soldier. He was educated at the Isiklar (Işıklar) Military High School inBursa and went from there in 1957 to complete a two-year course at theTurkish Military Academy.[5] Özkök left there as asecond lieutenant in theArtillery. He has commanded an Artillery Gun Line, Forward Observation team, Fire Direction Center, SATA Battery, Battalion and Brigade. He has mostly worked withM114 155 mm howitzers andM198 howitzers. He has commanded a Brigade which included aMGM-140 ATACMS tactical ballistic missile battalion. He studied at the Army War College and theNATO Defence College in the 1970s.[6]
He is married to Özenç Özkök and has two children.[5][6]
In his retirement he is pursuing photography and poetry.[7]
After graduating from the Army War College in 1972, Özkök moved into military staff, initially with the Special Weapons Branch of theAllied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH), and then atSHAPE. He was promoted tobrigadier general in 1984 and worked as Chief of Planning and Operations for the General Staff (TGS). From 1986 to 1988 he commanded the70th Infantry Brigade and on his promotion tomajor general in 1988 he commanded the28th Infantry Division. He returned to the TGS in 1990 and was promoted tolieutenant general in 1992 when he was sent toBrussels to head the Turkish NATO Military Delegation for three years.[6]
On August 30, 1996, Özkök was promoted tofull general and took charge of the NATOAllied Land Forces South-Eastern Europe (LANDSOUTHEAST) located inİzmir.[6] He returned again to the TGS in 1998, this time as deputy chief. After a brief stint as the commander of theFirst Army in Istanbul, he was made commander of the Turkish Army in 2002, succeedingHüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu. He served as chairman until his retirement on August 30, 2006.
TheChronicle said that during his tenure as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he opposed the plans of some of his peers who wanted to stage anothercoup d'etat and narrowly evaded assassination with a tip-off from the CIA on 3 February 2004.[8][9][10][11] Major general Fehmi Büyükbayram of the Ankara central garrison changed Özkök's schedule in order to protect him. Another attempt was allegedly prevented with a tip-off from the United Kingdom.[12] Özkök recognized the allegations made in theChronicle,[13] but rejected some of the others, saying that the military would have taken the necessary precautions had they been true.[14] In a 2007 interview Özkök said that he did not eat from the army canteen. People inferred that he feared poisoning, but Özkök replied that he merely wanted healthier food.[15] A common complaint against him by his former colleagues has been that he often seems to avoid alcohol, as an admiral in Turkish navy wrote in his personal diary "what we found in his (ozkok) glass turned out to be Coca-Cola while he was pretending to be drinking[16]
Özkök, AB üyelik süreci konusuna yoğunlaşarak, bu yönde enerji harcanması gerektiğini söyledi.
Bu yeni bir haber değil. Chronicle dergisinde çıktı. O zaman da basına yansımıştı. Benim konumumdaki kişilere karşı böyle girişimler olabilir. Güvenlikten sorumlu arkadaşlar önlemlerini alırlar. Çoğunlukla da komutana söylemezler bile. Tedirginlik yaratmamak için. O tarihlerde benim güzergâhım zaman zaman bir önlem olarak değiştirilirdi.
Böyle bir şey yok. Olsa zaten askeri savcılık müdahale ederdi. Basından öğrendiğimiz kadarıyla iddialar sanıyorum emeklilik dönemleriyle ilgili. Bu nedenle diyorum ki, eğer görevde olsalardı askeri savcılık müdahale ederdi.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Commander of the Turkish First Army August 20, 1999 – August 21, 2000 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander of the Turkish Army August 27, 2000 – August 29, 2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief of the General Staff of Turkey Agu 28, 2002–Agu 28, 2006 | Succeeded by |
