The Aegean Army or Fourth Army is one of the four main formations of the

Turkish Army The Turkish Land Forces () is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for Army, land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the ...

. It covers the entire west coast of the

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

peninsula and has its headquarters in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

. It was organised in the 1970s in response to political tensions with

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

– the ongoing

Aegean dispute The Aegean dispute is a set of interrelated controversies between Greece and Turkey over sovereignty and related rights in the region of the Aegean Sea. This set of conflicts has strongly affected Greek-Turkish relations since the 1970s, an ...

and the

Cyprus problem The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus conflict, Cyprus issue, Cyprus dispute, or Cyprus question, is an ongoing dispute between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot community in the north of the island of Cyprus, where troops of th ...

. 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 2–3 km 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. Turkey has countered such concerns by stating that besides being of a fundamentally defensive nature it is "basically a training army".

History

It was established on July 20, 1975, independently from

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, when the situation became more tense and the possibility of war increased with the

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of Cypriot intercommunal violence, intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots, Greek and Turkish Cy ...

, 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

in the Aegean islands. Its headquarters is in

Narlıdere Narlıdere is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 50 km2, and its population is 62,923 (2022). It is fully (100%) urbanized. Narlıdere district area follows the southern coastline of the ...

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 Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

) *** 49th Special Force Regiment *** 41st Commando Regiment *** 109th Field Artillery Regiment *** 190th

Marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

Battalion *** Communications Battalion *** Central Command Military Police Battalion *** Logistics Support Group (

Kyrenia Kyrenia is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the '' de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. While there is evidence showing that the wider region of Kyrenia has been populated before, ...

) *57th Artillery Training Brigade (

) *19th Infantry Brigade ( Edremit) *11th Motorised Infantry Brigade (

Denizli Denizli is a city in Aegean Region, Aegean Turkey, and seat of the province of Denizli Province, Denizli. The city forms the urban part of the districts Merkezefendi and Pamukkale, Denizli, Pamukkale, with a population of 691 783 in 2024. Denizl ...

) *3rd Infantry Training Brigade (

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

) *1st Infantry Training Brigade (

Manisa Manisa () is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province, lying approximately 40 km northeast of the major city of İzmir. The city forms the urban part of the districts Şehzadeler and Yunusemre, with ...

) - on September 20, 2024, Governor of Manisa Enver Ünlü paid a paid a farewell visit to the 1st Commando Training Brigade Commander, 5th Infantry Colonel Fatih Bozkurt, and wished him success with his work. * Marines Brigade (

Foça Foça is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 251 km2, and its population is 34,946 (2022). The town of Foça is situated at about northwest of İzmir's city center on the Aegean Sea, Aege ...

)

References

Forum discussion of current structure
drawn from S&H Magazine

External links

Turkey and Greece: Time to Settle the Aegean Dispute
* https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1975IZMIR00162_b.html - 1975

United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

report of creation of army {{Turkish army formations Field armies of Turkey Military in İzmir Province Military units and formations established in 1975

History

Units

See also

References

External links