Gendarmerie General Command

Gendarmerie General Command Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı
Emblem of the Gendarmerie General Command
Active	1839 (Official claim) June 10, 1930 (as Gendarmerie Organisation) 1956 (as Gendarmerie General Command)[1]
Country	Turkey
Type	Gendarmerie
Role	Paramilitary law enforcement, counter insurgency, armed response to civil unrest, counter terrorism, special weapons operations.
Size	276,320 sworn members[2] 1,475 Armored and utility vehicles 59 Helicopters
Part of	Ministry of the Interior (in peacetime) Turkish Armed Forces (in wartime)
Headquarters	Ankara
Colors	Red & Blue
Website	jandarma.tsk.tr/
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Minister of the Interior	Minister Süleyman Soylu
Chief of the General Staff	General Hulusi Akar
Commander	General Yaşar Güler
Chief of Staff	Lt. General İbrahim Yaşar
Insignia
Flag

The Gendarmerie General Command (Turkish: Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı) is a service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for the maintenance of the public order in areas that fall outside the jurisdiction of police forces (generally in rural areas), as well as assuring internal security and general border control along with carrying out other specific duties assigned to it by certain laws and regulations. The Gendarmerie is essentially a governmental armed security and law enforcement force of military nature.

It also operates the Askeri İnzibat provost service, policing the armed forces and two special forces brigades called Jandarma Özel Harekat Komutanlığı and Jandarma Özel Asayiş Komutanlığı.

As a part of the Turkish Armed Forces, the General Command of the Gendarmerie is subordinate to the Turkish General Staff in matters relating to training and education in connection with the Armed Forces, and to the Ministry of the Interior in matters relating to the performance of the safety and public order duties. The Commander of the Gendarmerie reports to the Minister of the Interior.

The Gendarmerie has its roots in the Ottoman Empire military law enforcement organization "Subaşı" (later known as the "Zaptiye"), which carried out security and safety services. A similar, earlier force was called "Şurta" during the medieval Seljuq Empire.

History

Ottoman era

After the abolition of the Janissary corps of the Ottoman Empire in 1826, military organizations called Asâkir-i Muntazâma-i Mansûre, Asâkir-i Muntazâma-i Hâssa, and, in 1834, Asâkir-i Redîfe were established to deliver security and public order services in Anatolia and in some provinces of Rumelia.

British Officers in the Ottoman Gendarmerie, 1904

Since the term Gendarmerie was noticed only in the Assignment Decrees published in the years following the declaration of Tanzimat in 1839, it is assumed that the Gendarmerie organization was founded after that year, but the exact date of foundation has not yet been determined. Therefore, taking the June 14 of "June 14, 1869", on which Asâkir-i Zaptiye Nizâmnâmesi was adopted, June 14, 1839 was accepted as the foundation date of the Turkish Gendarmerie.^[4]

After 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War, Ottoman prime minister Mehmed Said Pasha decided to bring some officers from Britain and France to establish a modern law enforcement organization. After the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, the Gendarmerie achieved great successes, particularly in Rumelia. In 1909, the Gendarmerie was affiliated with the Ministry of War, and its name was changed to the Gendarmerie General Command (Ottoman Turkish: Umûm Jandarma Kumandanlığı‎).

Gendarmerie units both sustained their internal security duties and took part in the national defence at various fronts as a part of the Armed Forces during the World War I and the Turkish War of Independence.

Republic of Turkey

The Gendarmerie organization achieved its current legal status after Law No. 1706 entered into force on June 10, 1930. In 1939, the Gendarmerie organization was restructured, having three groups: Fixed Gendarmerie Units, Mobile Gendarmerie Units, and Gendarmerie Training Units and Schools.

Law No. 6815, which entered into force in 1956, assigned the Gendarmerie General Command duties such as protecting borders, coasts and territorial waters, and fighting smuggling, which had been previously carried out by the Gümrük Umum Kumandanlığı that was a military organization at the level of division in affiliation to the Ministry of Customs and Monopoly.

In 1957, Gendarmerie Border Units were transformed into brigades, and Gendarmerie Training Brigades were established.

In 1961, Gendarmerie Regional Commands were established.

In 1968, the first Gendarmerie Aviation Unit was established in Diyarbakır under the name of Light Helicopter Company Command.

In 1974, Gendarmerie Commando Units and Gendarmerie Aviation Units took part in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

Law No. 2692 which entered into force in 1982 assigned the duty of protecting the coasts and territorial waters to the Coast Guard Command.

Law No. 2803 on the Organization, Duties and Responsibilities of the Gendarmerie entered into force in 1983.

Law No. 3497 entering into force in 1988 assigned the duty of protecting the land borders and ensuring their security to the Land Forces Command, but Gendarmerie General Command still holds the responsibility for some parts of the Iranian and Syrian borders and the whole Iraqi border.

Gendarmerie Criminal Department was founded in Ankara in 1993 and Gendarmerie Regional Criminal Laboratory Superiorities were founded respectively in 1994 in Van, in 1998 in Bursa and in 2005 in Aydın. Crime Scene Examination Teams, Explosive Material Disposal Units, Fingerprints and Palm Prints Branches and Crime Scene Examination Units were also established.

Since 1984, Gendarmerie units have been the most important element of the conflict against Kurdish separatists.

Structure

The Turkish Gendarmerie comprises the following commands:^[5]

• Personnel
• Intelligence
  • JİTEM
• Operations
• Logistics

The General Command is composed of:^[6][7]

• The headquarters
• Internal security units
• Border units
• Training units
• Gendarmerie schools
• Administrative and logistics support units
• Special Forces
  • Jandarma Özel Harekat
  • Jandarma Özel Asayiş Komutanlığı

• 
  Gendarmerie officer with an MP5 at Topkapı Palace in Istanbul.
• 
  Gendarmerie's Ford Transit Connect.
• 
  Gendarmerie's Ford Transit and a trooper.
• 
  Traffic gendarmerie's Renault Megane.

Equipment

Handguns

• Yavuz 16^[8]

Shotguns

• SPAS-12^[8]

Submachine guns

• MP5^[8]
• P90^[9]

Assault and battle rifles

• AKM^[8]
• G3^[8]
• G41^[8]
• HK33A4^[8]
• M16A1^[8]

Machine guns

• HK23E^[8]
• M2^[8]
• MG3^[8]
• PKM^[8]

Sniper rifles

• Arctic Warfare^[8]
• SVD^[8]
• Tac-50^[8]

Rocket and grenade launchers

• HK 69^[8]
• Milkor MGL^[8]
• Mk 19^[10]
• RPG 7^[8]

Mortars

• M19^[8]
• M29^[8]
• Mortier 120mm Rayé Tracté Modèle F1^[8]

Vehicles

Model	Image	Origin	Type	Variant	Number	Details
Armored personnel carriers
Sisu Nasu		Finland	Tracked All-Terrain Vehicle	NA-140 BT	47
Kirpi		Turkey	MRAP	Kirpi 4x4	200	Based on the Israeli Hatehof Navigator.[11]
Cobra		Turkey	MRAP	Cobra I	200	Its suspension / wheel base is based on the American HMMWV which led some to mistakenly claim that Turkey actually uses the HMMWV as one of its utility vehicles.[12]
Cadillac Gage Commando		United States	Armored Personnel Carrier	V-150S	124	Lacking a dedicated vehicle for its reconnaissance battalion's Turkey ordered 124 LAV-150 vehicles in 1992 from the Cadillac Corporation.[13]
Otokar ZPT		Turkey	Armored Car		250	After the cancellation of Akrep, Otokar started to produce cheaper alternative for the law enforcement agencies and the army. ZPT is based on Shorland S-55.
BTR-60		Russia	Armored Personnel Carrier	BTR-60PB	323[5]	Bought from ex-GDR stockpile after German unification. All modernized.
Condor		Germany	Armored Personnel Carrier	Condor 1	25[5]
Dragoon		United States	Armored Personnel Carrier	Dragoon 300	60
Helicopters
UH-60 Black Hawk		United States/ Turkey	Utility helicopter	S-70A	27	Avionics upgraded by Aselsan.T-70 variant in use. 30 more on order
UH-1 Huey		United States/ Turkey	Utility helicopter	AB-205	13	Avionics upgraded by Aselsan.
Mil Mi-17		Russia/ Turkey	Utility helicopter	Mi-17 IVA	18	Avionics upgraded by Aselsan.

Insignia

NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D)						Student officer
Turkey (Edit)																															No insignia
	Mareşal[14]		Genelkurmay Başkanlığı[15]	Orgeneral	Korgeneral		Tümgeneral		Tuğgeneral		Albay		Yarbay		Binbaşı		Yüzbaşı		Üsteğmen			Teğmen			Asteğmen						Harbiyeli

NATO Code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4		OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Turkey (Edit)																																	No Insignia
	Astsubay Kıdemli Başçavuş						Astsubay Başçavuş		Astsubay Kıdemli Üstçavuş	Astsubay Üstçavuş	Astsubay Kıdemli Çavuş			Astsubay Çavuş			Uzman Çavuş						Çavuş		Uzman Onbaşı		Onbaşı						Er

• OF3, OF2, & OR2 translate to "Head of 1000", "Head of 100", and "Head of 10" respectively.

See also

• List of General Commanders of the Gendarmerie of Turkey
• Constabulary
• Gendarmerie
• Military equipment of Turkey

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gendarmerie of Turkey.

• General Command of Gendarmerie
• Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı (in Turkish)