Aegean Army

Aegean Army
Active	July 1975[1] – present
Country	Turkey
Size	130,000 active personnel
Part of	Turkish Army
Garrison/HQ	İzmir
Commanders
Current commander	Lieutenant General Kemal Yeni
Chief of Staff	Brigadier General Bahattin Karademir

The Aegean Army or Fourth Army is one of the four main formations of the Turkish Army. It covers the entire west coast of the Anatolia peninsula and has its headquarters in İzmir. It was organised in the 1970s in response to political tensions with Greece – the ongoing Aegean dispute and the Cyprus problem.

Its stated mission is to protect Turkey's territory on its western coast. This is directed against the perceived threat posed by Greece's armament of the Aegean Sea islands. Greece, on the other hand, perceives the presence of the Aegean Army as a threat to its islands, citing strong offensive capabilities ascribed to the Aegean Army as well as the exposed and isolated geographical position of the islands, the 5 most populous of which are several hundred kilometres distant from the Greek mainland, yet sit only 2-3km from Turkey's, as reasons of concern. Greek sources particularly point to the strong amphibian forces maintained by the Aegean Army as an indicator of its offensive nature.^[2] Turkey has countered such concerns by stating that besides being of a fundamentally defensive nature it is "basically a training army".^[3]

History

It was established on July 20, 1975, independently from NATO, when the situation became more tense and the possibility of war increased with the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which was made in a period when the tension increased after the coup in Greece on April 21, 1967, against the threat posed by the armament of Greece in the Aegean islands. Its headquarters is in Narlıdere.^{[citation needed]}

Units

The Army has been reported to consist of the following units and organizations:

• Cyprus Turkish Peace Force
  • Headquarters
    • 28th Mechanized Infantry Division (Paşaköy Kyrenia)
    • 39th Mechanized Infantry Division (Çamlıbel, Morphou)
    • 14th Armoured Brigade (Degirmenlik, Nicosia)
    • 49th Special Force Regiment
    • 41st Commando Regiment
    • 109th Field Artillery Regiment
    • 190th Marines Battalion
    • Communications Battalion
    • Central Command Military Police Battalion
    • Logistics Support Group (Kyrenia)
• 57th Artillery Training Brigade (İzmir)
• 19th Infantry Brigade (Edremit)^[4]
• 11th Motorised Infantry Brigade (Denizli)
• 3rd Infantry Training Brigade (Antalya)
• 1st Infantry Training Brigade (Manisa).^[5]
• Marines Brigade (Foça)

See also

• List of Commanders of the Aegean Army

References

External links

• Turkey and Greece: Time to Settle the Aegean Dispute
• https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1975IZMIR00162_b.html - 1975 United States State Department report of creation of army

• v
• t
• e

Turkish Army Formations

Commands

• List of Commanders of the Turkish Land Forces
• Logistics Command (formed 1988)
• Turkish Military Academy Command
• Army Aviation Command
• Cyprus Turkish Peace Force Command (formed 1974)

1st Army

2nd Corps	4th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 8th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 18th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 95th Armored Brigade 102nd Artillery Regiment Corps Engineer Combat Regiment 5th Commando Regiment 41st Commando Brigade
3rd Corps	52nd Tactical Armored Division 2nd Armored Brigade 66th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 23rd Tactical Motorized Infantry Division 47th Motorized Infantry Regiment
5th Corps	1st Armored Brigade 3rd Armored Brigade 54th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 55th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 65th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Corps Armored Cavalry Battalion 105th Artillery Regiment

2nd Army

4th Corps	28th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 58th Artillery Regiment 1st Commando Brigade 2nd Commando Brigade 56 Motorized Infantry Brigade
6th Corps	5th Armored Brigade 20th Armored Brigade 39th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 106th Artillery Regiment 6th Mechanized Infantry Division
7th Corps	3rd Tactical Infantry Division 34th Border Brigade 16th Mechanized Brigade 20th Mechanized Brigade 48th Border Brigade 2nd Border Brigade 70th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 172nd Armored Brigade 2nd Motorized Infantry Brigade 6th Motorized Infantry Brigade 3rd Commando Brigade 107th Artillery Regiment Hakkari Mountain and Commando Brigade

3rd Army

8th Corps	1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade 12th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 10th Motorized Infantry Brigade 34th Motorized Infantry Brigade 49th Motorized Infantry Brigade 51st Motorized Infantry Brigade 49th Commando Brigade 4th Commando Brigade 108th Artillery Regiment 17th Motorized Infantry Brigade 225th Motorized Infantry Brigade 7th Commando Brigade
9th Corps	9th Tactical Infantry Division 4th Armored Brigade 14th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 25th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 9th Motorized Infantry Brigade 25th Border Brigade 17th Commando Brigade 48th Motorized Infantry Brigade 109th Artillery Regiment 9th Commando Brigade

Aegean Army

Cyprus Turkish Peace Force	28th Mechanized Infantry Division 39th Mechanized Infantry Division 14th Armored Brigade (Turkey) KTBK Cyprus Special Forces Regiment KTBK Cyprus Artillery Regiment
Direct Command	57th Artillery Training Brigade 19th Infantry Brigade 11th Motorized Infantry Brigade 5th Army Aviation School Command 2nd Infantry Regiment Commando Training School Command 3rd Infantry Training Brigade 1st Infantry Training Brigade 11th Commando Brigade