Editing Turkish Armed Forces (section)

==History==
{{Main|Military history of the Republic of Turkey}}

===War of Independence===
{{main|Turkish War of Independence}}

The Turkish War of Independence (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by the [[Turkish National Movement]] after parts of the [[Ottoman Empire]] were occupied and partitioned following its defeat in [[World War I]]. These campaigns were directed against [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|Greece in the west]], [[Turkish–Armenian War|Armenia in the east]], [[Franco-Turkish War|France in the south]], [[Revolts during the Turkish War of Independence|loyalists and separatists in various cities]], and [[Occupation of Constantinople|British and Ottoman troops around Constantinople (İstanbul)]].<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-44425/Turkey|title=Turkey, Mustafa Kemal and the Turkish War of Independence, 1919–23|access-date=29 October 2007|year=2007|archive-date=25 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625023040/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-44425/Turkey|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ethnic demographics of the modern [[Turkey|Turkish Republic]] were significantly impacted by the earlier [[Armenian genocide]] and the deportations of Greek-speaking, Orthodox Christian [[Rum Millet|Rum people]].{{Sfn|Landis|Albert|2012|p=264}} The Turkish National Movement carried out massacres and deportations to eliminate native [[Christians|Christian]] populations{{snd}}a continuation of the Armenian genocide and [[late Ottoman genocides|other ethnic cleansing operations]] during World War I.<ref>* {{cite book|last1=Üngör|first1=Uğur Ümit|title=The Making of Modern Turkey: Nation and State in Eastern Anatolia, 1913–1950|title-link=The Making of Modern Turkey|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-965522-9|page=121|language=en|quote=As such, the Greco-Turkish and Armeno-Turkish wars (1919–23) were in essence processes of state formation that represented a continuation of ethnic unmixing and exclusion of Ottoman Christians from Anatolia.|author1-link=Uğur Ümit Üngör}}
* {{cite book|last1=Kieser|first1=Hans-Lukas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b53tAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Turkish+war+of+independence%22+%22ethnic+cleansing%22|title=A Quest for Belonging: Anatolia Beyond Empire and Nation (19th–21st Centuries)|date=2007|publisher=Isis Press|isbn=978-975-428-345-7|page=171|language=en|quote=The Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 officially recognized the " ethnic cleansing " that had gone on during the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1922 ) for the sake of undisputed Turkish rule in Asia Minor .|author1-link=Hans-Lukas Kieser|access-date=4 May 2021|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115124334/https://books.google.com/books?id=b53tAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Turkish+war+of+independence%22+%22ethnic+cleansing%22|url-status=live}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Avedian|first1=Vahagn|date=2012|title=State Identity, Continuity, and Responsibility: The Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey and the Armenian Genocide|url=https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/23/3/797/399905|journal=European Journal of International Law|language=en|volume=23|issue=3|pages=797–820|doi=10.1093/ejil/chs056|issn=0938-5428|quote=The 'War of Independence' was not against the occupying Allies – a myth invented by Kemalists – but rather a campaign to rid Turkey of remaining non-Turkish elements. In fact, Nationalists never clashed with Entente occupying forces until the French forces with Armenian contingents and Armenian deportees began to return to Cilicia in late 1919.|doi-access=free|access-date=14 April 2021|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507161711/https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/23/3/797/399905|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|last1=Kévorkian|first1=Raymond|title=Collective and State Violence in Turkey: The Construction of a National Identity from Empire to Nation-State|date=2020|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-78920-451-3|editor1-last=Astourian|editor1-first=Stephan|page=165|language=en|chapter=The Final Phase: The Cleansing of Armenian and Greek Survivors, 1919–1922|quote=The famous 'war of national liberation', prepared by the Unionists and waged by Kemal, was a vast operation, intended to complete the genocide by finally eradicating Armenian, Greek, and Syriac survivors.|editor2-last=Kévorkian|editor2-first=Raymond|author-link=Raymond Kévorkian}}
* {{cite book|last1=Gingeras|first1=Ryan|title=Fall of the Sultanate: The Great War and the End of the Ottoman Empire, 1908–1922|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-967607-1|page=288|language=en|quote=While the number of victims in Ankara's deportations remains elusive, evidence from other locations suggest that the Nationalists were as equally disposed to collective punishment and population politics as their Young Turk antecedents... As in the First World War, the mass deportation of civilians was symptomatic of how precarious the Nationalists felt their prospects were.|author-link=Ryan Gingeras}}
* {{cite book|last1=Kieser|first1=Hans-Lukas|title=[[Talaat Pasha: Father of Modern Turkey, Architect of Genocide]]|date=2018|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-8963-1|pages=319–320|quote=Thus, from spring 1919, Kemal Pasha resumed, with ex-CUP forces, domestic war against Greek and Armenian rivals. These were partly backed by victors of World War I who had, however, abstained from occupying Asia Minor. The war for Asia Minor{{snd}}in national diction, again a war of salvation and independence, thus in-line with what had begun in 1913{{snd}}accomplished Talaat's demographic Turkification beginning on the eve of World War I. Resuming Talaat's Pontus policy of 1916–17, this again involved collective physical annihilation, this time of the Rûm of Pontus at the Black Sea.|author1-link=Hans-Lukas Kieser}}
* {{lay source |template=cite encyclopedia |last1=Kieser |first1=Hans-Lukas |entry=Pasha, Talat |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/pasha_talat |encyclopedia=1914–1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Levene|first1=Mark|date=2020|title=Through a Glass Darkly: The Resurrection of Religious Fanaticism as First Cause of Ottoman Catastrophe|journal=Journal of Genocide Research|volume=22|issue=4|pages=553–560|doi=10.1080/14623528.2020.1735560|s2cid=222145177|quote=Ittihadist violence was as near as near could be optimal against the Armenians (and Syriacs) and in the final Kemalist phase was quantitively entirely the greater in an increasingly asymmetric conflict where, for instance, Kemal could deport "enemies" into a deep interior in a way that his adversaries could not..., it was the hard men, self-styled saviours of the Ottoman-Turkish state, and – culminating in Kemal – unapologetic génocidaires, who were able to wrest its absolute control.|author-link=Mark Levene}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Ze'evi|first1=Dror|title=The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey's Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894–1924|last2=Morris|first2=Benny|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|year=2019|isbn=978-0674916456|location=Cambridge, MA|pages=672|language=en}}
* [[Levon Marashlian]], "Finishing the Genocide: Cleansing Turkey of Armenian Survivors, 1920–1923," in Remembrance and Denial: The Case of the Armenian Genocide, ed. Richard Hovannisian (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1999), pp. 113–145: "Between 1920 and 1923, as Turkish and Western diplomats were negotiating the fate of the Armenian Question at peace conferences in London, Paris, and Lausanne, thousands of Armenians of the Ottoman Empire who had survived the massacres and deportations of World War I continued to face massacres, deportations, and persecutions across the length and breadth of Anatolia. Events on the ground, diplomatic correspondence, and news reports confirmed that it was the policy of the Turkish Nationalists in Angora, who eventually founded the Republic of Turkey, to eradicate the remnants of the empire's Armenian population and finalize the expropriation of their public and private properties."
* {{cite book |editor-last=Hovannisian |editor-first=Richard G. |title=Remembrance and Denial: The Case of the Armenian Genocide |date=1998 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |location=Detroit |isbn=978-0-8143-2777-7 |last=Marashlian |first=Levon |author-link=Levon Marashlian |chapter=Finishing the Genocide: Cleansing Turkey of Armenian Survivors, 1920–1923 |pages=113–145 |quote=Between 1920 and 1923, as Turkish and Western diplomats were negotiating the fate of the Armenian Question at peace conferences in London, Paris, and Lausanne, thousands of Armenians of the Ottoman Empire who had survived the massacres and deportations of World War I continued to face massacres, deportations, and persecutions across the length and breadth of Anatolia. Events on the ground, diplomatic correspondence, and news reports confirmed that it was the policy of the Turkish Nationalists in Angora, who eventually founded the Republic of Turkey, to eradicate the remnants of the empire's Armenian population and finalize the expropriation of their public and private properties.}}
* {{cite book|last1=Shirinian|first1=George N.|title=Genocide in the Ottoman Empire: Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks, 1913–1923|date=2017|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-78533-433-7|page=62|language=en|quote=The argument that there was a mutually signed agreement for the population exchange ignores the fact that the Ankara government had already declared its intention that no Greek should remain on Turkish soil before the exchange was even discussed. The final killing and expulsion of the Greek population of the Ottoman Empire in 1920–24 was part of a series of hostile actions that began even before Turkey's entry into World War I.}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|title=Ataturk, Mustafa Kemal|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Genocide: A–H|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|url=https://www.armenian-genocide.org/kemal.html|date=1999|author1-link=Rouben Paul Adalian|editor-last=Charny|editor-first=Israel W.|language=en|isbn=978-0-87436-928-1|quote=Mustafa Kemal completed what Talaat and Enver had started in 1915, the eradication of the Armenian population of Anatolia and the termination of Armenian political aspirations in the Caucasus. With the expulsion of the Greeks, the Turkification and Islamification of Asia Minor was nearly complete.|last1=Adalian|first1=Rouben Paul|access-date=4 May 2021|archive-date=16 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516032216/https://www.armenian-genocide.org/kemal.html|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Benny|title=The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey's Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894–1924|title-link=The Thirty-Year Genocide|last2=Ze'evi|first2=Dror|date=2019|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-91645-6|quote=The Greek seizure of Smyrna and the repeated pushes inland{{snd}}almost to the outskirts of Ankara, the Nationalist capital{{snd}}coupled with the largely imagined threat of a Pontine breakaway, triggered a widespread, systematic four-year campaign of ethnic cleansing in which hundreds of thousands of Ottoman Greeks were massacred and more than a million deported to Greece... throughout 1914–1924, the overarching aim was to achieve a Turkey free of Greeks.|author-link=Benny Morris|author2-link=Dror Ze'evi}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Meichanetsidis|first1=Vasileios Th.|date=2015|title=The Genocide of the Greeks of the Ottoman Empire, 1913–1923: A Comprehensive Overview|journal=Genocide Studies International|volume=9|issue=1|pages=104–173|doi=10.3138/gsi.9.1.06|s2cid=154870709|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/690|quote=The genocide was committed by two subsequent and chronologically, ideologically, and organically interrelated and interconnected dictatorial and chauvinist regimes: (1) the regime of the CUP, under the notorious triumvirate of the three pashas (Üç Paşalar), Talât, Enver, and Cemal, and (2) the rebel government at Samsun and Ankara, under the authority of the Grand National Assembly (Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi) and Kemal. Although the process had begun before the Balkan Wars, the final and most decisive period started immediately after WWI and ended with the almost total destruction of the Pontic Greeks ...|access-date=8 December 2022|archive-date=23 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123070747/https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/690|url-status=live}}</ref> Following these campaigns of ethnic cleansing the historic Christian presence in Anatolia was destroyed, in large part, and the Muslim demographic had increased from 80% to 98%.{{Sfn|Landis|Albert|2012|p=264}}

While [[World War I]] ended for the Ottoman Empire with the [[Armistice of Mudros]], the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] occupied parts of the empire and sought to prosecute former members of the [[Committee of Union and Progress]] and others involved in the [[Armenian genocide]].<ref>Zürcher, Erik Jan. ''The Unionist Factor: The Role of the Committee of Union and Progress in the Turkish National Movement, 1905–1926''. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1984.</ref><ref name="Avedian">{{cite journal|last1=Avedian|first1=Vahagn|date=2012|title=State Identity, Continuity, and Responsibility: The Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey and the Armenian Genocide|url=https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/23/3/797/399905|journal=European Journal of International Law|language=en|volume=23|issue=3|pages=797–820|doi=10.1093/ejil/chs056|issn=0938-5428|doi-access=free|access-date=14 April 2021|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507161711/https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/23/3/797/399905|url-status=live}}</ref> Ottoman military commanders therefore refused orders from both the Allies and the [[Government of the late Ottoman Empire|Ottoman government]] to surrender and disband their forces. This crisis reached a head when [[sultan]] [[Mehmed VI]] dispatched [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk|Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk)]], a well-respected and high-ranking general, to [[Anatolia]] to restore order; however, Mustafa Kemal became an enabler and eventually leader of [[Turkish National Movement]] against the Ottoman government, Allied powers, and Christian minorities. on 3 May 1920, [[Birinci Ferik]] [[Fevzi Çakmak|Mustafa Fevzi Pasha]] (Çakmak) was appointed the Minister of National Defence, and [[Mirliva]] [[İsmet İnönü|İsmet Pasha]] (İnönü) was appointed the Minister of the Chief of General Staff of the [[government of the Grand National Assembly]] (GNA).<ref name="Akademi">Harp Akademileri Komutanlığı, ''Harp Akademilerinin 120 Yılı'', İstanbul, 1968, pp. 26, 46.</ref>

In an attempt to establish control over the power vacuum in Anatolia, the Allies persuaded [[Prime Minister of Greece|Greek Prime Minister]] [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] to launch an expeditionary force into Anatolia and [[Occupation of Smyrna|occupy Smyrna]] (İzmir), beginning the Turkish War of Independence. A nationalist [[Government of the Grand National Assembly]] (GNA) led by Mustafa Kemal was established in [[Ankara]] when it became clear the Ottoman government was backing the Allied powers. The Allies soon pressured the Ottoman government in Constantinople into suspending the [[Constitution of the Ottoman Empire|Constitution]], shuttering the [[Chamber of Deputies (Ottoman Empire)|Parliament]], and signing the [[Treaty of Sèvres]], a treaty that the "[[Ankara government]]" declared illegal.

In the ensuing war, [[Kuva-yi Milliye|irregular militia]] defeated the [[Franco-Turkish War|French forces in the south]], and undemobilized units went on to [[Turkish–Armenian War|partition Armenia]] with [[Red Army|Bolshevik forces]], resulting in the [[Treaty of Kars]] (October 1921). The Western Front of the independence war was known as the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|Greco-Turkish War]], in which Greek forces at first encountered unorganized resistance. However [[İsmet İnönü|İsmet Pasha]]'s organization of militia into a [[Turkish Land Forces|regular army]] paid off when Ankara forces fought the Greeks in the [[First Battle of İnönü|First]] and [[Second Battle of İnönü]]. The Greek army emerged victorious in the [[Battle of Kütahya–Eskişehir|Battle of Kütahya-Eskişehir]] and decided to attack Ankara, stretching their supply lines. On 3 August 1921, the GNA fired İsmet Pasha from the post of Minister of National Defence because of his failure at the [[Battle of Afyonkarahisar–Eskişehir]] and on 5 August, just before the [[Battle of Sakarya]], appointed the chairman of the GNA Atatürk as [[commander-in-chief]] of the Army of the GNA. The Turks checked the Greek advance in the [[Battle of Sakarya]] and counter-attacked in the [[Great Offensive]], which expelled Greek forces from Anatolia in the span of three weeks. The war effectively ended with the [[Turkish capture of Smyrna]] and the [[Chanak Crisis]], prompting the signing of the [[Armistice of Mudanya]].

The Grand National Assembly in Ankara was recognized as the legitimate Turkish government, which signed the [[Treaty of Lausanne]] in July 1923. The Allies evacuated Anatolia and [[Eastern Thrace]], the Ottoman government was overthrown and the [[Abolition of the Ottoman sultanate|monarchy abolished]], and the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey]] (which remains Turkey's primary legislative body today) declared the [[Turkey|Republic of Turkey]] on 29 October 1923. With the war, a [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Suny |first1=Ronald Grigor|author-link=Ronald Grigor Suny |title='They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else': A History of the Armenian Genocide|title-link=They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-6558-1 |pages=364–365}} The Armenian Genocide, along with the killing of Assyrians and the expulsion of the Anatolian Greeks, laid the ground for the more homogeneous nation-state that arose from the ashes of the empire. Like many other states, including Australia, Israel, and the United States, the emergence of the Republic of Turkey involved the removal and subordination of native peoples who had lived on its territory prior to its founding.
* {{lay source |template=cite encyclopedia |author=Ronald Grigor Suny |date=26 May 2015 |title=Armenian Genocide |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/armenian_genocide |encyclopedia=1914–1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War}}</ref> the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, and the [[Abolition of the Ottoman sultanate|abolition of the sultanate]], the Ottoman era came to an end, and with [[Atatürk's reforms]], the Turks created the modern, secular nation-state of Turkey. On 3 March 1924, the [[Abolition of the Caliphate|Ottoman caliphate was also abolished]].

===First Kurdish rebellions===
{{see also|Kurdish rebellions in Turkey}}
There were several rebellions [[southeastern Turkey]] in the 1920s and 1930s, the most important of which were the 1925 [[Sheikh Said rebellion]] and the 1937 [[Dersim rebellion]]. All were suppressed by the TAF, sometimes involving large-scale mobilisations of up to 50,000 troops.

=== World War II ===
{{see also|Second Cairo Conference}}

Turkey remained neutral until the final stages of [[World War II]]. In the initial stage of World War II, Turkey signed a treaty of mutual assistance with Great Britain and France.<ref>See Murat Metin Hakki, "[http://www.ucc.ie/chronicon/3/hakkfra.html Surviving the Pressure of the Superpowers: An Analysis of Turkish Neutrality During the Second World War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233509/http://www.ucc.ie/chronicon/3/hakkfra.html |date=3 March 2016 }}", ''Chronicon'' 3 (1999–2007) 44–62, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University, {{ISSN|1393-5259}}</ref> But after the [[Battle of France|fall of France]], the Turkish government tried to maintain an equal distance with both the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] and the [[Axis Powers|Axis]]. Following [[Nazi Germany]]'s occupation of the [[Balkans]], upon which the Axis-controlled territory in [[Thrace]] and the eastern islands of the [[Aegean Sea]] bordered Turkey, the Turkish government signed a Treaty of Friendship and Non-Aggression with Germany on 18 June 1941.

After the [[German invasion of the Soviet Union]], the Turkish government sent a military delegation of observers under Lieutenant General Ali Fuat Erden to Germany and the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]].<ref>[[Hüseyin Hüsnü Emir Erkilet]], ''Şark cephesinde gördüklerim'', Hilmi Kitabevi, 1943.</ref> Following the German retreat from the [[Caucasus]], the Turkish government then moved closer to the Allies and [[Winston Churchill]] secretly met with [[İsmet İnönü]] at the [[Adana Conference]] in Yenice Train Station in southern Turkey on 30 January 1943, with the intent of persuading Turkey to join the war on the side of the Allies. A few days before the start of [[Operation Zitadelle]] in July 1943, the Turkish government sent a military delegation under General Cemil Cahit Toydemir to Russia and observed the exercises of the [[503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion]] and its equipment.<ref>Johannes Glasneck, Inge Kircheisen, ''Türkei und Afghanistan'', Dt. V. d. Wissenschaften, 1968, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4U_RAAAAMAAJ&q=Toydemir+1943+Kursk p. 139.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502051054/https://books.google.com/books?id=4U_RAAAAMAAJ&q=Toydemir+1943+Kursk&dq=Toydemir+1943+Kursk&hl=tr&ei=acL9TMr3G9HzcYzZuKMG&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA |date=2 May 2016 }}</ref> But after the failure of Operation Zitadelle, the Turkish government participated in the [[Second Cairo Conference]] in December 1943, where [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], Churchill and İnönü reached an agreement on issues regarding Turkey's possible contribution to the Allies. On 23 February 1945, Turkey joined the Allies by declaring war against Germany and [[Empire of Japan|Japan]], after it was announced at the [[Yalta Conference]] that only the states which were formally at war with Germany and Japan by 1 March 1945 would be admitted to the [[United Nations]].<ref>Mustafa Aydın, SAM, "Turkish Foreign Policy: Framework and Analysis", Center for Strategic Research, 2004, p. 47.</ref>

===Korean War===
{{main|Turkish Brigade|Battle of Wawon}}
[[File:터키군 (7445442282).jpg|thumb|Turkish soldiers observing the front during the [[Korean War]]]]
Turkey participated in the [[Korean War]] as a member state of the United Nations and sent the [[Turkish Brigade]] to South Korea, and suffered 731 losses while displaying exceptional valor in combat. On 18 February 1952, Turkey became a member of [[NATO]].<ref>For some of the NATO command structure discussions re-entry of Turkey, see Sean Maloney, Securing Command of the Sea, Masters' thesis, University of New Brunswick, 1992</ref> The South Korean government donated a war memorial for Turkish soldiers who fought and died in Korea. The Korean [[pagoda]] was donated in 1973 for the 50th anniversary of the Turkish Republic and is located in [[Ankara]].

===Cyprus===
{{Main|Cyprus dispute|Military operations during the Invasion of Cyprus (1974)}}

On 20 July 1974, the TAF launched an [[amphibious warfare|amphibious]] and [[airborne forces|airborne]] [[Operation Atilla|assault operation]] on [[Cyprus]], in response to the [[1974 Cypriot coup d'état]] which had been staged by [[EOKA-B]] and the [[Cypriot National Guard]] against president [[Makarios III]] with the intention of [[Enosis|annexing the island]] to Greece; but the military intervention ended up with Turkey occupying a considerable area on the northern part of Cyprus and helping to establish a local government of [[Turkish Cypriots]] there, which has thus far been recognized only by Turkey. The intervention came after more than a [[Cypriot intercommunal violence|decade of intercommunal violence]] (1963–1974) between the island's [[Greek Cypriots]] and [[Turkish Cypriots]], resulting from the constitutional breakdown of 1963. Turkey invoked its role as a guarantor under the [[Treaty of Guarantee (1960)|Treaty of Guarantee]] in justification for the military intervention.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.tr/how-did-the-situation-change-after-july-1974-_.en.mfa|title=From Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs|access-date=17 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716092035/http://www.mfa.gov.tr/how-did-the-situation-change-after-july-1974-_.en.mfa|archive-date=16 July 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Turkish forces landed on the island in two waves, invading and occupying 37% of the island's territory in the northeast for the Turkish Cypriots, who had been isolated in small enclaves across the island prior to the military intervention.<ref name=Gis>{{cite book |title=Divided Cyprus: Modernity, History, and an Island in Conflict |year=2006 |url=https://archive.org/details/dividedcyprusmod00papa |url-access=limited |last= Welz |first= Gisela |publisher= Indiana University Press |isbn= 0-253-21851-9|page= [https://archive.org/details/dividedcyprusmod00papa/page/n14 2]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Carpenter, Ted Galen |title=NATO's Empty Victory: A Postmortem on the Balkan War |url=https://archive.org/details/natosemptyvictor00carp_0 |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Cato Institute]] |location=Washington, D.C. |year=2000 |page= [https://archive.org/details/natosemptyvictor00carp_0/page/36 36]|isbn=1-882577-85-X }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Carpenter, Ted Galen |title=Peace and Freedom: Foreign Policy for a Constitutional Republic |url=https://archive.org/details/peacefreedomfore0000carp |url-access=registration |publisher=Cato Institute |location=Washington, D.C. |year=2002 |page=[https://archive.org/details/peacefreedomfore0000carp/page/187 187] |isbn=1-930865-34-1 }}</ref>

In the aftermath, the Turkish Cypriots declared a separate political entity in the form of the [[Turkish Federated State of Cyprus]] in 1975; and in 1983 made a unilateral declaration of independence as the [[Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]], which is recognized only by Turkey to this day. The United Nations continues to recognize the sovereignty of the [[Republic of Cyprus]] according to the terms of its independence in 1960. The conflict continues to overshadow Turkish relations with Greece and with the [[European Union]]. In 2004, during the [[Cypriot Annan Plan referendum, 2004|referendum]] for the [[Annan Plan for Cyprus]] (a United Nations proposal to resolve the [[Cyprus dispute]]) 76% of the [[Greek Cypriots]] rejected the proposal, while 65% of the [[Turkish Cypriots]] accepted it.

=== Kurdish–Turkish conflict ===
{{main|Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present)}}

The TAF are in a protracted campaign against the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|PKK]] (recognized as a [[terrorist organization]] by the United States, the [[European Union]] and [[NATO]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200512/20/eng20051220_229424.html|title=People's Daily Online – NATO chief declares PKK terrorist group|access-date=17 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019180937/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200512/20/eng20051220_229424.html|archive-date=19 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1232988421.45/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201221025/http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1232988421.45|url-status=dead|title=The EU's list of terrorist groups|archive-date=1 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:028:0057:01:EN:HTML|title=Council Decision 2011/70/CFSP of 31 January 2011 updating the list of persons, groups and entities subject to Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism – Official Journal L 028, 02/02/2011 P. 0057–0059|access-date=12 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122110609/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:028:0057:01:EN:HTML|archive-date=22 November 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=scheffer>{{cite news|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200512/20/eng20051220_229424.html|title=NATO chief declares PKK terrorist group|work=[[Xinhua]]|date=20 December 2005|access-date=12 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019180937/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200512/20/eng20051220_229424.html|archive-date=19 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="EU">[http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:028:0057:01:EN:HTML European Union List of Terrorist Organisations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122110609/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:028:0057:01:EN:HTML |date=22 November 2011 }}, [[Council of the european union]], updated Council Decision 2011/70/CFSP of 31 January 2011</ref> which has involved frequent forays into neighbouring [[Iraq]] and [[Syria]]. [[Abdullah Öcalan]], the leader of the PKK was arrested in 1999 in Nairobi and taken to Turkey. In 2015, the PKK cancelled their 2013 ceasefire after tension due to various events.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://t24.com.tr/haber/kck-ateskesin-bittigini-acikladi-bundan-sonra-tum-barajlar-gerillanin-hedefinde-olacaktir,302608|title=KCK ateşkesin bittiğini açıkladı: Bundan sonra tüm barajlar gerillanın hedefinde olacaktır|work=t24.com.tr|access-date=30 March 2017|language=tr-TR|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322020849/http://t24.com.tr/haber/kck-ateskesin-bittigini-acikladi-bundan-sonra-tum-barajlar-gerillanin-hedefinde-olacaktir,302608|archive-date=22 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

===War in Bosnia and Kosovo===
[[File:Turkish soldiers assigned to Regional Command East of the KFOR mission patrolled along the administrative boundary line during a routine patrol (8611802).jpg|thumb|TAF soldiers during a KFOR patrol.]]
{{main|Bosnian War|Kosovo War}}
{{see also|Implementation Force|Kosovo Force|SFOR}}
Turkey contributed troops in several NATO-led peace forces in [[Bosnia]] and [[Kosovo]]. Currently there are 402 Turkish troops in [[Kosovo Force]].

===War in Afghanistan===
{{Main|War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)}}
{{See also|International Security Assistance Force}}
After the [[2003 Istanbul Bombings]] were linked to [[Al-Qaeda]], Turkey deployed troops to [[Afghanistan]] to fight [[Taliban]] forces and Al-Qaeda operatives, with the hopes of dismantling both groups. Turkey's responsibilities included providing security in Kabul (it formerly lead [[Train Advise Assist Command - Capital|Regional Command Capital]]), as well as in [[Wardak Province]], where it lead PRT Maidan Shahr. Turkey was once the third largest contingent within the [[International Security Assistance Force]]. Turkey's troops were not engaged in combat operations and Ankara has long resisted pressure from Washington to offer more combat troops. According to the [[Washington Post]], in December 2009, after US President [[Barack Obama]] announced he would deploy 30,000 more U.S. soldiers, and that Washington wants others to follow suit, Turkish Prime Minister [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] reacted with the message that Turkey would not contribute additional troops to Afghanistan. "Turkey has already done what it can do by boosting its contingent of soldiers there to 1,750 from around 700 without being asked", said [[Erdoğan]], who stressed that Turkey would continue its training of Afghan security forces.

Turkey withdrew their troops from [[Afghanistan]] after the [[fall of Kabul (2021)]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/turkey-begins-withdrawing-military-forces-from-afghanistan/news|title=Turkey begins withdrawing military forces from Afghanistan|website=[[Daily Sabah]]|date=25 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/25/turkish-military-begins-evacuating-from-afghanistan|title = Turkish military begins Afghanistan evacuations}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkish-military-began-evacuating-afghanistan-2021-08-25/|title=Turkey evacuating from Afghanistan, could provide support at Kabul airport|newspaper=Reuters|date=25 August 2021}}</ref>

===Cross-border operations in the Middle East===

====Syria====
[[File:Joseph Dunford, Hulusi Akar and Valery Gerasimov 170307-D-PB383-021 (33179920601).jpg|thumb|left|Marine Corps Gen. [[Joseph Dunford Jr.]] (left) chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, participates in a trilateral meeting with Gen. [[Hulusi Akar]] of the Turkish army (center) and Gen. [[Valery Gerasimov]] of the Russian army in Antalya, Turkey, March 6, 2017. The three chiefs of defense are discussing their nations’ operations in northern Syria.]]

The Turkish Armed Forces have carried out major military operations against [[ISIS]], [[YPG]] and the [[Assad Regime]] in Syria; [[Operation Euphrates Shield]] in 2016, [[Operation Olive Branch]] in 2018, [[Operation Peace Spring]] in 2019 and [[Operation Spring Shield]] in 2020. As a result of these operations, regions as [[Jarabulus]], [[Battle of al-Bab|Al-Bab]], [[Tell Abyad]], [[Ras al-Ayn]] and [[Afrin, Syria|Afrin]] were captured by Rebel Armed forces of the [[Syrian Interim Government]] and Turkish Armed Forces.

The Turkish Armed Forces implemented new tactics and techniques like the mass use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Thanks to these drone raids, which were used in coordination with electronic warfare, systems such as the [[Pantsir]] and [[Buk missile system|Buk]] used by [[Ba'athist Syria]] were neutralized. International relations and policy think tanks as the [[Middle East Institute]], [[Institute for the Study of War]], [[Rand Corporation]], [[Jamestown Foundation]]<ref name="Middle East Institute June 18, 2020">{{Cite web|first=Gregory|last=Waters|title=The Syrian Regime's Combat Losses in Spring 2020, and What Lies Ahead|date=18 June 2020|url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/syrian-regimes-combat-losses-spring-2020-and-what-lies-ahead|access-date=2020-10-18|publisher=[[Middle East Institute]]|language=en|archive-date=18 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250118195553/https://www.mei.edu/publications/syrian-regimes-combat-losses-spring-2020-and-what-lies-ahead}}</ref><ref name="Turkey Commits to Idlib2020">{{cite news | last1=Cafarella| first1=Jennifer| last2=Dunford| first2=John| last3=Land| first3=Michael | last4=Wallace| first4=Blane| title=Turkey Commits to Idlib| website=[[Institute for the Study of War]] | date=2020-03-18 | url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/turkey-commits-idlib | access-date=2024-12-25| archive-date=14 January 2025| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114050458/https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/turkey-commits-idlib}}</ref><ref name="randcor2020">{{cite web | last1 = Parachini | first1 = John V. | last2 = Wilson | first2 = Peter A. | url = https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2020/07/drone-era-warfare-shows-the-operational-limits-of-air.html | title = Drone-Era Warfare Shows the Operational Limits of Air Defense Systems | publisher = [[RAND Corporation]] | date = 2 July 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231210155258/https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2020/07/drone-era-warfare-shows-the-operational-limits-of-air.html | archive-date = 10 December 2023}}</ref><ref name="turkeysdroneblitz">{{cite web | last= Kasapoglu | first= Can | title= Turkey's Drone Blitz Over Idlib | publisher = [[Jamestown Foundation]] | date =17 April 2020| url = https://jamestown.org/program/turkeys-drone-blitz-over-idlib/ | access-date =14 March 2025| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250307013629/https://jamestown.org/program/turkeys-drone-blitz-over-idlib/ | archive-date = 7 March 2025}}</ref> and many military analysts stated that the Turkish Armed Forces have made significant changes in military doctrines and have created a new military approach based on drones and electronic warfare with the military operations it has carried out or helped to carry out in regions such as [[Turkish involvement in the Syrian civil war|Syria]], [[Turkish intervention in Libya (2020–present)|Libya]], [[List of Turkish operations in northern Iraq|Iraq]] and [[Second Nagorno-Karabakh War|Karabakh]]. The developments it has made in drone technology in particular have been interpreted as Türkiye's defense industry and armed forces becoming among the world's leading forces.<ref name="The Turkey Analyst 2020-03-25">{{cite news | last=Tanchum| first=Michaël |  title= Turkey's In-between State of War and Peace with Russia | website=The Turkey Analyst| date=2020-03-25 | url=https://www.turkeyanalyst.org/publications/turkey-analyst-articles/item/636-turkeys-in-between-state-of-war-and-peace-with-russia.html | access-date=2024-12-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Turkey shoots down two Syrian warplanes, destroys armor, kills troops as conflict escalates| newspaper=Washington Post| date=2020-03-01 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkey-shoots-down-two-syrian-warplanes-in-growing-conflict/2020/03/01/d0fd189a-5bbe-11ea-ac50-18701e14e06d_story.html | access-date=2024-12-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Turkey drone success has 'elevated' it in the world, says Fukuyama
|url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210413-turkey-drone-success-has-elevated-it-in-the-world-says-fukuyama/ |access-date=9 January 2025 |publisher=Middle East Monitor |date=13 April 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Web source |url= https://newlinesinstitute.org/state-resilience-fragility/turkeys-high-stakes-in-northwest-syria/|date=12 March 2020 |title= Turkey’s High Stakes in Northwest Syria| website=[[New Lines Institute]] |accessdate= December 27, 2024|first=Charles|last=Lister|archive-date=16 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250116051544/https://newlinesinstitute.org/state-resilience-fragility/turkeys-high-stakes-in-northwest-syria/}}</ref>

===Humanitarian relief===
The TAF have performed "Disaster Relief Operations," as in the [[1999 İzmit earthquake]] in the [[Marmara Region]] of Turkey. Apart from contributing to NATO, the Turkish Navy also contributes to the [[Black Sea Naval Co-operation Task Group]], which was created in early 2001 by Turkey, [[Bulgaria]], Georgia, Romania, Russia and Ukraine for search and rescue and other humanitarian operations in the [[Black Sea]].