Mehmet Hikmet Bayar (1932 July 12, 2019) was a Turkish general who served as the 36th commander of the

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

from 30 August 1994 to 27 August 1996. He also commanded the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and the Third Army, in addition to serving as a commander of

Allied Land Forces Southern Europe Allied Land Forces Southern Europe (LANDSOUTH) was a military command of NATO's Allied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH) command. Based in Verona in Northern Italy LANDSOUTH was tasked with defending Italy north of the Apennine Mountains against ...

Career

Born and raised in

Gölcük, Kocaeli Gölcük, historically known as Diolkides, is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 217 km2, and its population is 175,940 (2022). Gölcük is located on the southern shore of the Gulf of İ ...

, Turkey, Bayar obtained his graduation as an artillery second lieutenant from

Kuleli Military High School Kuleli Military High School was the oldest military high school in Turkey, located in Çengelköy, Istanbul, on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus strait. It was founded on 21 September 1845, by Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I. After the 2016 Turkish ...

in 1951, the

Turkish Military Academy The Turkish Military Academy () or as it is known historically and popularly Harbiye is a four-year co-educational military academy and part of the National Defense University (Turkey), National Defence University. It is located in the cent ...

in 1953 and Artillery Class School in 1955. After obtaining his graduation from same Military Academy in 1965, he became a staff officer in 1967. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1978, major general in 1982,

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

in 1986, and four-star general in 1990. As a brigadier general he commanded the General Staff at the Plan and Operations department and the 1st Armored Brigade Command. As a major general he headed Chief of Staff office in the Third Army as well as the 3rd Mechanized Division Command. He retired from the Turkish Armed Forces on 30 August 1996.

Career

References

Further reading