, image = Özel_Kuvvetler_Komutanlığı_Brövesi.png , caption = Shoulder patch of the Special Forces Command , dates = 1992–present , country = , branch = General Staff , class = Land forces , type =

Special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

, role =

Unconventional warfare Unconventional warfare (UW) is broadly defined as "military and quasi-military operations other than conventional warfare" and may use covert forces, subversion, or guerrilla warfare. This is typically done to avoid escalation into conventiona ...

, size =

Brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

, command_structure = , garrison = Ankara , nickname = Maroon Berets
Bordo Bereliler , patron = , motto = "The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer." , colors = (claret red) , colors_label =

Beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret remai ...

, march = Alay Marşı (

Regiment March Regiment March (Turkish: ''Alay Marşı'') is the march of Special Forces Command of Turkey. The ''Soldier's Anthem'' (Əsgər Marşı) of the Azerbaijani Land Forces was inspired by the march. Lyrics {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:ce ...

) , mascot = , battles = * Operation Northern Iraq *

Turkish army winter campaign of 1994–1995 In November 1994, the Turkish military launched a winter campaign in South-Eastern Turkey to cut rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who were active in the region, off from their winter supplies. The campaign continued until March 2 ...

* Operation Steel (1995) *

Operation Hammer (1997) Operation Hammer ( tr, Çekiç Harekâtı) was a cross-border operation by the Turkish Armed Forces into northern Iraq between 12 May and 7 July 1997 against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The operation's objectives were to destroy PKK u ...

* Operation Dawn (1997) * Operation Sun (2008) * Operation Martyr Yalçın (2015) * PKK–Turkish conflict *

Operation Euphrates Shield Operation Euphrates Shield ( tr, Fırat Kalkanı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in the Syrian Civil War which led to the Turkish occupation of northern Syria. Operations were carried out ...

Operation Olive Branch Operation Olive Branch ( tr, Zeytin Dalı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army (SNA) in the majority-Kurdish Afrin District of northwest Syria, against the People's Pr ...

* Operation Spring Shield * Second Libyan Civil War (2020) * Operation Claw-Lock , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = , notable_commanders = Engin Alan
Zekai Aksakallı , current_commander =

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Ömer Ertuğrul Erbakan , ceremonial_chief = , colonel_of_the_regiment = The Special Forces Command ( tr, Özel Kuvvetler Komutanlığı — OKK) is a division of the Turkish Armed Forces, initially established as a brigade in 14 April 1992, operating directly under the Turkish General Staff. According to the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Ch ...

(TAF) dress code, the OKK, also known as the ''Bordo Bereliler,'' are noteworthy for their distinctive maroon berets. Their task is to carry out special operations that exceed the capabilities of other military units.

History

First established on 27 September 1952 as the Special and Auxiliary Combat Troops, the OKK was renamed Mobilization Investigation Board in November 1953. On 14 December 1970, it was reorganized as the Special Warfare Department. Due to the emergence of external dangers after the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

and threats from the northern part of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, the Special Forces Command was established as a brigade on 14 April 1992. In 2006, the brigade transitioned to a division. OKK leadership was upgraded from major-general to lieutenant-general and the new division was split into the 1st and 2nd brigade with the expectation that the troop count would double from 7000 to 14,000 by 2009. They ranked first among twenty-six special forces troops at the World Special Forces Championship held in Germany in 2004. In 1998, Turkey's special forces intercepted a warning intended for the PKK team in Iraq, infiltrated PKK operations and captured the commander of Kurdistan Democratic Party's (PKK) military forces, Şemdin Sakık. In 1999, the Turkish Special Forces used technology given to them by the Netherlands to arrest

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish and Kurdish for "uncle"), is a political prisoner and founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from ...

, a founding member of the PKK, after he landed at the

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

airport in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. In 2014, after 49 consular employees were taken hostage by

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic language, Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughou ...

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

, Special Forces Command carried out joint operations with MIT, the Turkish National Intelligence Organization, and rescued the hostages. Special Forces Command took part in internal security operations during the 2015-2016 curfews in the

Southeastern Anatolia Region The Southeastern Anatolia Region ( tr, Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous city in the region is Gaziantep. Other examples of big cities are Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Mardin and Adıyaman. It is ...

, Furthermore, on 21 February 2015 they participated in Operation Shah Euphrates to relocate the

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immuremen ...

of Suleyman Shah in Syria. With the start of the operations in Syria against

and PYD in 2016 during

, the Special Forces Command infiltrated the region and carried out exploration activities supported by the

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA) ( ar, الجيش السوري الحر, al-jaysh as-Sūrī al-ḥur) is a loose faction in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by officers of the Syrian Armed Forces with the goal of bringing down the governm ...

. Special Forces Command also played a role in operations such as

, Operation Claw (2019–2020), Operation Peace Spring and Operations Claw-Eagle and Tiger. The identities of Turkish Special Forces Command personnel are classified. Turkish SOF Officers are battle hardened, constantly operating and are active in the war on the PKK in the southeastern border region of Turkey and northern Iraq.

Attempted coup d'état

A key figure of the

2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted to seize contr ...

was brigadier general

Semih Terzi Semih Terzi (1968 – 15 July 2016) was a general in the Turkish Army, who was shot at the headquarters of the Special Forces Command during the attempted Turkish coup d'état on 15 July 2016. He was taken to the Gülhane Military Medical Academy ...

, who was Deputy Commander of the Special Forces at the time and the highest-ranking field commander during the coup attempt. He led a team of roughly 40 special forces operatives in an attempt to secure Special Forces Headquarters and organize attacks against government agencies and the parliament. The attempt ended in failure when OKK Senior

Sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in t ...

Ömer Halisdemir shot and killed Terzi, disrupting the command of the rebels.

Organization

The Special Forces are not aligned to any of the three branches of the TAF. They receive orders directly from the General Staff of the Republic of Turkey. The official size of the Special Forces Command (OKK), which is publicly known as Red Berets, stands at a Division level, this includes non-combatant units and other support staff. The combatant size of the OKK is not greater than 500.

Special Aviation Group

Special Aviation Group provides helicopter support for the Command's missions. The helicopters were modernized in 2015 and can operate at night or during the day.

Training and recruitment

ÖKK recruits officers, NCOs and SNCOs almost exclusively from the Land Forces Command, Turkey's army branch. Volunteers must pass written and physical exams, and linguistic skills in at least one foreign language are beneficial toward admission. The OKK training period lasts around 3.5 years, and encompasses:

unconventional warfare Unconventional warfare (UW) is broadly defined as "military and quasi-military operations other than conventional warfare" and may use covert forces, subversion, or guerrilla warfare. This is typically done to avoid escalation into conventiona ...

and various special warfare types,

special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

special reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) or Recon Team is conducted by small units of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units or military intelligence organizations, who operate behind enemy lines, avoiding direct combat and detect ...

and infiltration,

covert operations A covert operation is a military operation intended to conceal the identity of (or allow plausible deniability by) the party that instigated the operation. Covert operations should not be confused with clandestine operations, which are performed ...

, psychological warfare, underwater operation, static parachute and

HALO Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * Halo (franchise), ...

(night and day jump), counter-terrorism in residential areas,

close-quarters combat Close-quarters combat (CQC) or close-quarters battle (CQB) is a tactical situation that involves a physical fight with firearms involved between multiple combatants at short range. It can occur between military units, police/corrections offic ...

, resisting torture and interrogation techniques, ambush, raid, sabotage, escape, VIP protection, marksmanship, intelligence, languages, survival, operation in deep snow, extreme weather, bomb disposal, demolition, fire arrangement, damage detection, and TCCC. Recruits must undergo: *Domestic training (72 weeks) *International training (10 to 52 weeks, depending on rank) *Specialty training After graduating from Special Operations Training, commandos are tested before they officially become Maroon Beret officers. They are expected to survive in all environmental conditions, so as part of the final testing stage teams of recruits are left in different environments for two weeks, with no equipment or help. On the last month of training, called the "hell month", Maroon Berets receive training in interrogation and torture, and undertake a Trust Shot (Turkish: ''Güven Atışı'') exercise. In this exercise, two members of a squad have to flank paper target boards while the third advances from and shoots at the targets with live ammunition. Those flanking the targets are not permitted to move or wear body armor.

Equipment

Source:

History

Attempted coup d'état

Organization

Special Aviation Group

Training and recruitment

Equipment

See also

References

Further reading