Turkey Armed Forces

Turkey Armed Forces

Army. – Turkey has a standing conscript army. The budget of the war is 43,855,000 Turkish Lira, equal to approximately 412,000,000 Italian Lira and 23% of the general state budget. Balanced force: 20,000 between officers, civilian employees, students of military schools; 110,000 non-commissioned officers and enlisted men. For Turkey 2013, please check physicscat.com.

The central bodies are: Ministry of National Defense (army, navy, air force); General Staff.

Large units: 3 army inspections (Ankara, Conia, Erzïncan); 9 army corps (Afyon-Karahisar, Balïkesir, Istanbul, EskiŞehir, Conia, Kayseri, Diyarbekir, Tokat, Erzerum); 3 cavalry divisions; command of the square in Istanbul.

The corps includes: 2 infantry divisions, one cavalry regiment, 1 artillery regiment of the army corps, the engineering battalion, 1 battalion connections, 1 Battalion motorists. The infantry division is made up of 3 infantry regiments and 1 field artillery; the cavalry division is made up of 3 to 4 cavalry regiments and 1 squadron of horse artillery.

Troops: Infantry, 54 regiments, each of 3 battalions on three rifle companies and one machine gunner. She is armed with a 7.55 caliber Mauser rifle, Hotchkiss light machine gun, Hotchkiss heavy machine gun and Mauser. – Cavalry, 24 regiments, each of 3 knight squadrons and 1 machine gunner. She is armed with a rifle, saber or spear, light machine gun, heavy machine gun. – Artillery, 27 regiments, 3 horse artillery squadrons. It is armed with 75 Krupp and Schneider guns, howitzers and 105, 120, 150 guns, 210 mortars. – Engineers, 9 battalions. – Technical troops, 9 connections battalions, 9 car battalions.

The gendarmerie and the financial police are also militarily organized. The gendarmerie includes 4000 men, of which 300 are officers; the financial police, 6,600 men, including 600 officers.

The obligation of military service is general and personal, from 21 to 45 years of age. Citizens are called to arms in the 21st year of age. The detention lasts 18 months for the infantry, two years for the remaining weapons and technical troops, two and a half years for the gendarmerie and the financial police. From 41 to 45 years of age, the military belong to the territorial army.

By paying a military tax of 600 Turkish lira, the conscript soldier, in possession of certain requisites, can obtain discharge after 6 months of military service.

Special service is performed by citizens with a 2nd grade middle school license. They first served in arms in the army for six months; in the following six months, reserve officer pupils attend a school; finally, for another six months, they frame platoons and corresponding units of their weapon and class, as subordinate officers.

Navy. – The Turkish navy, at the outbreak of the world war, was in very bad condition. After the war, the Turkish navy also vigorously resumed the traditions of its greater past, and set itself up, with a naval program that includes (1936) 6 destroyers, 12 submarines and 6 MASs, with the ordering of the first these units abroad and with the reorganization of its services, definitely on the way to guaranteeing itself a good modern equipment.

The Turkish Navy currently includes:

1 battlecruiser Sultan Selim Yavuz, launched in 1911 in Hamburg, under the name of Goeben, for the German navy. In 1926 the ship was refurbished for Turkey by the Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire. It displaces 22,640 tons. and has a speed of about 26 knots. Armament ten 280/50, ten 150/45, eight anti-aircraft 88/45, 2 underwater launch tubes of 500. Armor and compartmentalization defense is extensive and efficient. The range is 53,000 miles at a speed of 10 knots and 2370 miles at 23 knots.

Cruisers: 2 of 10,000 t. in project; Hamidiye, built in 1903, of 3800 t. and 14 knots, armed with 2/150, 8/76 anti-aircraft and 2 launch tubes, used as a training ship; Medidiye, built in 1903, sunk during the war by the Russians and recovered by them, then taken over by the Turks, from 3300 t. and 19 knots, armed with 6/130 and 4/76 anti-aircraft.

Destroyers: 4 designed; 2, Kokatepe and Adatepe built in Italy, launched in 1931, of 1250 t. standard and 38 knots (which passed in tests), armed with four 120/50 singles, 3 gunners of 40 and 2 triple 533 launch tubes; 2, Zafer, Tinaztepe, built in the Cantieri del Tirreno, of the Italian Turbine type, launched in 1931, of 1206 t. standard and 36 knots, armed with 2 twin 120 systems, 2 40 machine gunners and 2 533 three-point launch tubes.

Torpedo boats: 3 rather old-fashioned, launched in the years 1905-1907, of 300 t.

Submarines: 4 planned; 1, Dumlupinar, medium cruiser, built in Monfalcone, from 920-1150 t., Speed ​​17.5-9 knots, armed with 6 launch tubes of 533 and 1 piece of 102; 1, Sakaria, minelayer, built in Monfalcone, from 610/940 t. and 16-9.5 knots, armed with 6 tubes of 533, and 1 piece of 120, capable of carrying 40 torpedoes; 1, Gür (former Spanish E. I), built in 1930 in Cadiz, from 750-960 t. and 20-9 knots, armed with 6 tubes of 533 and 1 piece of 102, purchased in 1935; 2. called N. 1 and N. 2, launched in 1927 in Rotterdam, from 500-600 t. and 14.5-8.5 knots, armed with 6 hoses of 450 and 1 piece of 75.

Old-fashioned gunboats: 2, PeikiŞ evket and Berk-i-Satvet, built by Krupp in 1907, of 840 t. and 20 knots, capable of carrying 20 torpedoes.

M. A. S.: 3 32 t torpedo boats built in Venice in 1931. and 34 knots; 8 antisubmarines, launched in 1926, of 25 tons, armed with depth bombs; 5 older.

In addition, the Turkish navy owns 3 413 t minesweepers. and 14 knots, 2 minelayers, 1 hydrographic vessel, some antiquated units, a presidential yacht (Ertogrul), tugs, etc. The main base is in the Gulf of Ismid where the arsenal also exists. The Naval Academy is in Halki on Princes’ Island. The navy has about 10,000 men, including officers, non-commissioned officers and municipalities.

Military aviation. – The air forces are grouped in the 3 aeronautical centers of EskiŞehir, Diyarbekir, Seyidi Köy (Smyrna), comprising a total of about 185 aircraft (land fighter, reconnaissance and medium land bombardment, hydro recognition and medium maritime bombardment). The flying material is of foreign manufacture (Italian, French, English, American, German and Czechoslovakian), currently of the antiquated type. The Turkish government has decided since 1935 to increase the number of aircraft in three years through an annual expenditure of 30 million Turkish lira.

The number of personnel assigned to military aviation, reported by the Turkish government at the disarmament conference, rose to 8383 men.

Turkey Armed Forces