Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu

Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu
Born	1934 (age 79–80) Bozüyük, Bilecik Province, Turkey
Allegiance	Turkey
Service/branch	Turkish Army
Years of service	1957–2002
Rank	General
Commands held	Chief of the Turkish General Staff Commander of the Turkish Land Forces Commander of the First Army NATO LANDSOUTHEAST
Awards	Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Distinguished Service Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Honor Hilal-i-Jur'at (Pakistan) Order of the Star of Romania Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Order of National Security Merit (South Korea) Shohrat Order (Azerbaijan)

Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu (born 1934) is a retired Turkish general who was the Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces and on August 30, 1998, became Chief of the Turkish General Staff for a four-year term.

Biography

Born in Bozüyük, Bilecik Province, Turkey, in December 1934, he completed his secondary schooling at the Işıklar Military High School in Bursa. He graduated from the Army Academy in 1955 as an artillery officer.

Upon commissioning, Kıvrıkoğlu underwent his officer's basic training at the Artillery Branch School in 1957. He spent the next eight years in a variety of artillery units as platoon and battery commander positions.

Following his staff officer education at the Army War College in 1965-1967, Kıvrıkoğlu was posted to the 9th Infantry Division in Sarıkamış, Kars, as a staff officer, where he served until 1970.

After graduating from the Armed Forces College in 1970, he served as planning officer at Operations Division of the Allied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH) at Naples, Italy. Between 1972 and 1973, he served as instructor at the Army War College and as section chief at the Turkish General Staff and branch chief at the Turkish Land Forces Command. Kıvrıkoğlu commanded the Cadet Regiment of the Army Academy in Ankara from 1978 to 1980.

After graduating from the NATO Defence College in Rome, Italy, he was promoted to Brigadier General in 1980 and assigned to SHAPE in Mons, Belgium, where he served as the Chief of Operations Center from 1980 to 1983. Upon returning to Turkey, he assumed the Command of the 3rd and 11th Brigades between 1983 and 1984 respectively.

In 1984, Kıvrıkoğlu was promoted to Major General and assigned to NATO Allied Land Forces Southeastern Europe (LANDSOUTHEAST) in İzmir, where he served as Chief of Staff. Later, he commanded the 9th Infantry Division in Sarıkamış from 1986 to 1988.

In 1988, he was promoted to Lieutenant General and became assistant Chief of Staff, Personnel, at the Turkish General Staff. From 1990-1993, he commanded the 5th Corps and then served as Undersecretary of Ministry of National Defence.

In 1993, Kıvrıkoğlu was promoted to full General. He then assumed the Command of NATO LANDSOUTHEAST, where he served until 1996, and later he commanded the Turkish First Army in Istanbul until 1997.

Prior to becoming Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces, he served as Commander of the Land Forces in 1997-1998.

There are rumours that Kıvrıkoğlu survived an assassination attempt in 1997's "Toros-2/97" exercise in Northern Cyprus.^[1] The bullet intended for him killed Colonel Vural Albay instead.^[2]

Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu served between August 30, 1998, and August 28, 2002, as the 23rd Chief of the Turkish General Staff.

Awards

Decorations

• (Turkish) State Medal of Honor
• Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Distinguished Service
• Order of Distinction Medal (Hilal-i-Jur'at, Pakistan)
• Order of the Star of Romania - The Rank of Grand Cross
• Class One Commander's Cross of Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
• Order of National Security Merit, Tongil Medal of Korea
• Friendship Medal of Kazakhstan Republic
• Azerbaijan's Flag Medal
• Azerbaijan's Shohrat Order^[3]
• Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Honor.

Badges

• Army Academy Graduation Badge
• Post Graduate Badge
• Training and Educational Success Badge
• Operational Success Badge
• Administration and Logistics Service Badge
• NATO Service Badge
• Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces Identification Badge.

References

• Kivrikoglu, Gen. Huseyin, International Who's Who. accessed September 4, 2006.

1. ↑ Ongun, Selin (2008-07-31). "Amerikali 'Buddy'". Tempo (in Turkish) 1078. Retrieved 2008-11-20. "1997’de TSK’nın Kıbrıs’taki Toros-2/97 adlı tatbikatında bir kaza yaşandı. Özel kuvvetlerden seken kurşun, komutan çadırında tatbikatı izleyen Albay Vural Berkay’a isabet etti. Albay Berkay’ın hemen önünde dönemin Kara Kuvvetleri Komutanı Orgeneral Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu oturuyordu. Kıvrıkoğlu, kurtuldu. Ergenekon iddianamesinde ifade veren tanık Zihni Çakır’ın eski Genelkurmay Başkanı Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu’nun Kara Kuvvetleri Komutanı’yken yaşadığı bu olaya da yer verildi." 
2. ↑ "DEATH CLOUDS EXERCISE SUCCESS". Turkish Press Review. DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION,OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER. 1997-11-06. Retrieved 2008-11-20. 
3. ↑ "Türkiyə Cümhuriyyəti Silahlı Qüvvələrinin Baş Qərargahının rəisi ordu generalı Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlunun "Şöhrət" ordeni ilə təltif edilməsi haqqında AZƏRBAYCAN RESPUBLİKASI PREZİDENTİNİN FƏRMANI" [Order of President of Azerbaijan on awarding Chief of General Staff of Republic of Turkey Huseyin Kivrikoglu with Shohrat Order]. Retrieved 2011-01-05. 

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