İlker Başbuğ

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General İlker Başbuğ

Shoulder badge of rank General of the Turkish Armed Forces

General İlker Başbuğ (born 1943) is the current Commander of the Turkish Army since August 30, 2006. In this post he succeeds Mehmet Yaşar Büyükanıt, the current Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, whom he is the next in line to succeed as well, in 2008, per Turkish military tradition.

[edit] Biography

General İlker Başbuğ was born in the Afyonkarahisar province in Western Turkey in 1943. He graduated from the Turkish Military Academy in 1961 as an infantry officer. After graduating from the Infantry School in 1963, he served in different units of the Turkish Army as Platoon and Commando Company Commander until 1970.

Following his graduation from the Army Staff College in 1973, he has served as the deputy chief of General Staff Operations Planning Command, as an instructor at Army Staff College, as Intelligence Division Intelligence Plans Chief at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium, as the Chief of Staff of the Defense Intelligence of the Army Plans and Principles Command, and as the Commander of the 247th Infantry Regiment of the 51st Infantry Brigade.

İlker Başbuğ, who has also graduated from the Royal Military Academy of England and the NATO Defense College, was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in 1989. He has later served in the SHAPE in Mons, Belgium again, this time as the Chief of Logistics and Intelligence Departments as well as serving as the 1st Armored Brigade Commander until his promotion to the rank of Major General in 1993.

As Major General, he served as the Deputy Commander of the Turkish Gendarmerie Public Order Command and later as the Chief of National Military Representation (NMR) at Mons, Belgium between 1993-1995. Following his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General, he served as the 2nd Army Corps Commander and as the Deputy President of the Secretariat of the National Security Council of the Republic of Turkey, respectively.

In 2002, he was promoted to the rank of General and served as the Deputy Commander of the Turkish Army until 2003, and then as the Deputy Chief of the General Staff until 2005. Between 2005 and 2006, he served as the Commander of the First Army until he assumed the post of the Commander of the Turkish Army on August 30, 2006.

His decorations include Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) Medal of Distinguished Courage and Self-Sacrifice and the TAF Medal of Honor.

He is married to Sevil Başbuğ and has two children. He is also fluent in English.