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Turkish Special Operations Forces

"Sea Wolf" exercises and again SAT Commandos :smokin:
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guys can you please tell me which nation trained your SF for first time??

guys can you please tell me which nation trained your SF for first time??
 
Mithridates said:
guys can you please tell me which nation trained your SF for first time??
Click to expand...

Ö.K.K (Special Forces Command) were founded 1952 because of growing Soviet threats under the former name of "Hususi ve Yardimci Muharip Birlikleri" (Special Combat and Auxilary Forces). No foreign country trained them.

S.A.T (Underwater Offence) were founded 1963 under the name of Su alti Komando (SAK), they were trained in Iskenderun by the first US SEAL/UDT teams.

S.A.S (Underwater Defence) was also founded 1963 but in Istanbul, i don't know if a foreign country was involved in training.
 
all of them were trained by the US. Like it or not. Though Turkish army pretends like it has thousends years of ''military culture'' in reality it is an exact copy-paste NATO army. Turkish army lost its culture after Jannisery corps were dissolved. Since 1826 Turkish army is an army that shaped by western battle culture. That's actually why NATO stands for. I envy Israeli army, their culture is only 60-70 years old but they have their own rifle holding style, close combat technique, battle doctrine etc. The IDF is unique, it is a brand.

Turkish army is a nato army and has nato doctrines in every field.
 
Our friend asked so I am going to answer according to my knowledge @Mithridates

Basically in Turkey there are two types of SOF categorization. The one is Special Operation Forces and the other is Special Forces. In the post I will try to summarize.

There are numerous special teams part of the Turkish security forces. We have SOF/SF units tied to the
Turkish Armed Forces, General Directorate of Security, Gendarmerie General Command, Coast Guard Command, MIT. It will be very difficult to cover in detail all of them so we will cover the most important, active and known ones.

First lets start with the SOF.

Police Special Operations POH

POH was first founded in 1983 part of the Public Security Department Presidency because of the need for a special trained teams ready to counter any terrorist threats coming from para-military organizations and capable of utilizing guerilla warfare techniques and tactics under the umbrella of the police. Later in 1987 because of the changing situation it was taken from Public Security Department Presidency and put under the command of the
Counter-Terror and Operations Department Presidency as Special Operations Branch Directorate. Because of the rise of terror attacks and activities of separatist organizations it was later reformed as different presidency with the name of Special Operations Department Presidency in 1993. Special Operations Branch directorates were founded in 48 provinces in Turkey. A POH personnel is trained in hostage rescue operations in all kinds of closed environments like plane, train, bus, metro. They are trained in order to be able to secure the safety of VIP's in high threat environment or react to any type of high threat calls on airports. In some cases POH is also responsible for the protection of representatives of Turkey in foreign countries like consulates and embassies. Some of the training a POH personnel receives is training in sharpshooting, combat in open field, urban warfare, road searches, home calls, finding and destroying explosive devices, transition from point A to point B, observation, reconnaissance. They also receive trainings of ambush, raid, haze, direction finding, map reading, base area creation, site formation and field deployment. They are basically the main special operations capable force in the police which is specialized in counter-terrorism. In the past they took experience from the Israel and brought it to Turkey. Israeli manners and accent are still visible in their work no matter if it comes to shooting techniques or tactics.

Gendarmerie Special Operations JOH

They are a Special Operation Forces tied to the Gendarmerie founded in 1993. First started as small number teams and then evolved into the main Special Operation Force that is being used by the Gendarmerie in the counter-terrorist operations. They are more qualified than the normal Gendarmerie Commando brigades and that is winning them a status of SOF. Their training is comparable to that of POH but it is more oriented in open field and mountain warfare while POH is more oriented at urban warfare. They are capable of fighting in all kinds of environments and weather conditions. They are highly specialized in mountain operations and are highly trained in alpine techniques and work with ropes. The JOH teams are mainly dispatched to the Eastern part of the country to participate in the war against terrorism taking place there. Their training is mainly conducted according to the
Turkish Armed Forces NATO doctrine with transferred experience from the West and Israel but also uses evolved tactics and procedures which were gained and constructed due to the Turkish experience developed in the war against terrorism.

Coast Guard Special Operations SOH

While not much is known about SOH it was founded in 2009 in order to meet the urgent need for
Special Operation Forces of the Coast Guard Command while before that such operations were carried by the
Sea Security Search and Operation teams DAGOT. SOH members are trained mainly in VBSS operations and maritime security. Their training is not different than any training program which is completed by equivalent forces around the world. Their training was mainly transferred from the experiences gained by DAGOT teams and also the units have good relationship and joint training programs and exercises with Gendarmerie's SF JOAK and also the TAF General Staff's Special Forces Command. For me they gained some publicity when operation in international waters was organized by the Coast Guard and the Turkish Navy close to Libyan coast with the name Albatros in 2016. In that operation 13.6 tons of marijuana was seized.

We covered the main SOF teams of the Turkish security forces. Now we are going to basically cover the main
SF teams.

Counter-Attack Team KAT

KAT are founded in 1993 by the bodyguard unit director of the 9th Turkish President Suleyman Demirel under the Presidential Protection Department Presidency. Sukru Cukurlu is a product of the Turkish counter-terror training while in the police, he trained in Germany, received training in close protection in the US and also worked as an instructor in the US when FBI gave him official invitation. He saw how the USSS layered and organized the security of the US president and decided to bring the experience he gained in the US in Turkey and he found KAT the
Turkish Counter-Attack Team. The team was later dissolved by the 10th President of Turkey Ahmet Sezer but brought to work by the 11th President Abdullah Gul again. KAT is composed by ex POH members who are filling the requirements to become KAT. KAT serves as a force trained to respond to any coordinated attack against the VIP they are responsible of and armed with variety of weapons systems and gear depending on the threat assessment. The difference of KAT compared to the bodyguards are that the bodyguards are tasked to shield the VIP and evacuate him from the danger zone while KAT are tasked to meet the firepower of the attackers and neutralize them even using heavy weapons. They are also highly trained in crisis management. KAT served all around the world including in hot zones like Iraq and Afghanistan. They also actively participated into the search operation for the kill team which was tasked to take President Erdogan in the night of 15th July coup.

Gendarmerie Special Public Security Command JOAK

JOAK is non homogeneous SF command found in 1999 by the Gendermerie General Commander General Aytac YALMAN in response to the need of special forces units of the Gendarmerie. In JOAK there are couple of branches related to the public security like Gendarmerie Search and Rescue JAK and the Gendarmerie Special Operations JOPER. Under JOAK command there are also couple of JOH units about which we talked above. There are personnel qualified in diving, mountaineering and parachuting. The pearl of JOAK are the Special Operations team JOPER. JOPER is the most professional unit part of the Gendarmerie tasked to respond to the Gendarmerie need for a special force capable of counter-terrorism. They are highly trained in hostage rescue operations in closed environment and are one of the most competent unit part of the Turkish security forces when it comes to hostage rescue tasks. They are also trained in counter-guerilla warfare, mountain warfare and highly trained in urban warfare. Even if their branch is more oriented at counter-terrorism and hostage rescue operation they are also capable of military grade operations.

Underwater Defense SAS

SAS was found in 1964 under the command of the Search and Underwater Command in the Turkish Navy with the name Underwater Defense SAM when the Turkish Navy and the NATO allies understood that Turkey needs EOD teams because of the situation with the USSR. It was part of the initiative to form special trained underwater units of the SEAL/UDT instructors which came in Turkey in 1963 and formed the Underwater Defense (SAS) Group Command and Underwater Offense (SAT) Group Command under the Search and Underwater Command of the Turkish Navy. One of the first instructors to come to Turkey was the legendary US Navy SEAL Bob Gallagher. EOD tasks were mainly completed by a regular explosive disposal divers until 1966 but when the need for keeping up to the latest tactics and procedures came Turkey started to send divers to the US to participate into the EOD courses made by the US Navy. This is how SAS started to form as the first and only SF EOD unit of the Turkish Navy we know today and that is where SAS and SAT were combined under one SAT and SAS Group Command. SAS and SAT Group Command was transferred directly to Navy General Headquarters Command in 1974. In the 1980 SAS were also given the task of securing critical naval ports and also trained in preventing covert attacks against maritime installations. Later SAT and SAS broke up and joined different commands. SAS actively participated in the war against terrorism and legends are being told for them from soldiers which served together with SAS. They took part both in domestic but also in operations in foreign territory. Notable operation in which SAS participated is the biggest evacuation of Turkish citizens when 1200 Turkish citizens were evacuated from Lebanon in joint initiative of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They also took part of the security measures when Abdullah Ocalan PKK's leader was brought to Turkey from Kenya, his travel to Imrali island, foreign operations in Iraq and Syria.

Underwater Defense SAT

As stated above it started as Underwater Commandos SAK and evolved into Underwater Offense SAT. Apart from SAS as special forces EOD/UDT unit the real offensive capability of the Turkish Navy is SAT. SAT is the Turkish equivalent of the SEAL teams found by SEAL/UDT instructors to counter the USSR threat in the seas. For the US at that time it was very important that Turkey posses special trained underwater units so Turkey could defend the Bosphorus strait from Russian naval assets and if needed to cross the enemy lines from sea and conduct special operations there. In the times of the war in Vietnam every year two Turkish SAT teams were in the US for receiving additional training by experiences gained by the Vietnam war. They were trained in maritime recon, underwater weapons, asymmetric tactics. All that work done by the Turkish and US instructors created one of the best trained special forces units in the world. From special forces waiting at the Bosphorus for Russian submarines in the year of 1974 SAT found to be on the spearhead when the first phase of the Cyprus Peace Operation started. Team of 24 SAT1 personnel was assigned to clean the beach areas around Girne from explosive devices, infiltrate the enemy and secure a bridge of strategic importance. After taking positions in Girne fortress SAT1 had to raid buildings that were known to be important, seize documents and bring them to Turkey. After their main objectives were completed they continued sabotages in Girne and managed to secure the city. SAT was the first unit to fire a bullet from the beginning of the Cyprus Peace Operation. After many years of service SAT is still active and is keeping up with the most actual training, gear and weapons. It is the main Special Forces unit of the Turkish Navy. They also took part of the war against terrorism in Turkey and abroad. They took part in the maritime security operations all around the world like Southeast Asia or Somalia. Extremely well trained with experiences gained from the US Navy Seals and Underwater Demolition Units and capable of conducting operations from Land, Sea and Air. Maybe the most notorious operation carried out by SAT was the Kardak/Imia crisis in 1996 when SAT team under the cover of the night managed to take down the Greek flag from the island. One Greek helicopter fell from the sky in the time of the events. The official version is technical issues.

Personnel Rescue CSAR/Forward Air Controllers IHK

The Turkish CSAR as far as I know have its roots in the Special Forces Command OKK under the name
Combat Search and Rescue MAK. After unfortunate events targeting the Turkish Armed Forces and its SF structures the CSAR command was transferred from OKK to the Air Forces Command's 135th fleet CSAR and FAC Command. The name of the CSAR is part of a lot of conspiracy theories regarding political killings and participation in provocative events in the internal affairs of the country. CSAR is trained to find VIP's behind enemy lines, secure them and evacuate them. Among them are qualified divers and also I think all are HAHO/HALO parachute qualified. In peace times CSAR is used mainly for Search and Rescue purposes evacuating military personnel or civilians which were injured by incidents or are suffering in areas with hard access. The Forward Air Controllers IHK are the dedicated Air Forces Command FAC unit which is also interoperable with other units. They are trained mainly in coordinating the ground forces and air power to prevent friendly fire in a CAS situation and to find and designate targets for the air forces.

Special Operations Command OKK

When we talk about about Special Forces we can't let OKK unmentioned. The Special Forces Command is the main Special Forces structure of the Turkish Armed Forces carrying strategic importance for Turkey. OKK is tied directly to the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces. It was first founded with the name Tactical Mobilization Group STK in 1952 by Danis Karabelen. Danis Karabelen was an Turkish military student who was taken out from the Military Academy at 1915 to take part in the defense of Gallipoli. He was working closely with Mustafa Kemal ATATURK. He is known to have worked for the ancestor of the National Intelligence Organization MIT the National Security Service MEH. He was trained there in the spirit of Teskilat i Mahsusa the Ottoman intelligence organization. He later participated actively in the Korean War and there started to discover the importance of the non-conventional warfare/guerilla warfare. After Turkey joined NATO Turkey started participation in joint mechanism against the USSR known as operation Gladio and started to prepare itself, the nation and the Turkish Armed Forces for a possible Sovyet invasion. Turkey discovered that it needs a special warfare capable units and in the leadership of Danis Karabelen the Tactical Mobilization group was found together with his experience from the Independence War, the intelligence, Korea and CIA's experience gained in the special warfare research centers. He was part of the first group of Turks which was special trained by CIA in their means. The objective of the STK was conduction special operations, guerilla warfare, mobilizing the civil population for resistance and usage of "underground" networks for successive conducting of guerilla warfare. One of the major initiative was the founding of the Turkish Resistance Organization TMT which later in 1974 was the Turkish para-military organization on the field. Later TMT was transformed to a regular armed force and the leader Rauf Denktas became the president of the North Cyprus Turkish Republic. This alone is enough to understand the influence STK had. STK had later involvement in the 1960's military coup. Later in 1965 the STK evolved into a much larger and complex structure with the name of Special Warfare Department OHD. The Special Warfare Department followed the tradition of STK but enlarged its structure, recruited civil agents trough the country and brought a new level of training of professional military personnel not only in Turkey but also around the world. The Special Warfare Department managed to bring real readiness to Turkey about a military conflict with the USSR. OHD personnel took part in covert operations all around the world and especially in the USSR. OHD personnel was highly trained with different understanding for warfare than the normal soldier. Their main activities were intelligence gathering, sabotage, political action, psychological warfare, guerilla warfare. OHD is also known to have founded and supported many para-military organizations including the notorious Grey Wolves and its branches abroad which was the para-military organization of the Nationalist Movement Party which was founded by Alparslan Turkes. Alparslan Turkes was in the first group of the CIA trained Turks together with Danis Karabelen the founder of STK and later one of the founders of OHD. OHD participated actively in the internal conflict rising between the political Left and Right wing supporters. OHD later played a major role in the 1980's military coup. Later it started to be even more active when Left separatist terrorist organizations started to form and it took a look of an armed conflict especially when the Kurdistan's Worker Party PKK organized its first military operation in 1984. OHD started to use all its resources and started covert actions against the Left entity in Turkey including false flag attacks. Previously requited civil agents were awaken and Right wing mafia started to form in Turkey against the Left entities under the OHD's supervising and then internal conflict in the Turkish security services started to form between Turkish patriots and personnel working for the CIA and the Gladio network. Rogue organizations and units started to form in all intelligence agencies and also OHD. Turkey reached a state where it was a vassal State of the US and the patriotic part of the security services saw that and tried to intervene. After multiple killings of security agents, shady individuals, journalists and Left wing collaborators the OHD was out of control and it was reorganized into the Special Forces Command OKK in 1992. OKK was restructured many times. Overall the fight against the traitors continued until 2016. OKK as many think is not a homogeneous structure. It is a "nest" of Special Forces units which have many different branches and levels of qualification. In 2000 even a Search and Rescue Special Force unit was formed with the name Natural Disasters Search and Rescue DAK. Everyone serving in OKK have one common base/transition into the Special Forces by completing a 32 week Special Forces Specialization Course which gives the basic Special Forces training for conducting operations from Land, Sea and Air. The personnel can stay or return to his unit and stay as reserve. After that course is completed according to the talents and decision for professional development of the personnel he can participate in other courses also. The Special Forces Command is requiting soldiers from every branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. Personnel from the Land Forces, Air Forces and Navy can join the Special Forces Command. OKK can also take command of other SF units if needed. There are teams with different levels of qualification. OKK personnel can also participate in international training abroad. The training programs and tactics of the OKK are mainly NATO standard but also have its unique sides. The long experience of the OKK and its ancestors in all kind of special operations, covert action, political action, psychological operations and guerilla warfare together with the transferred knowledge and experience of CIA and the Gladio network make OKK a unique force. OKK keeps improving itself, its structure and is keeping up with the most recent and effective training practices, weapons and gear. Some of the notorious operations in which OKK played a major role are the capturing of one of the leaders of PKK Semdin Sakik together with his brother in Northern Iraq in a lightning fast operation, the capturing of the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in Kenya, all of the large scale military incursions in Northern Iraq, and Syria and many more known and unknown operations in Turkey and abroad.

The Turkish security forces have many known and also unknown special trained units. I tried to cover some of them here and some of their achievements.
 
Last edited:
kartal1 said:
Our friend asked so I am going to answer according to my knowledge @Mithridates

Basically in Turkey there are two types of SOF categorization. The one is Special Operation Forces and the other is Special Forces. In the post I will try to summarize.

There are numerous special teams part of the Turkish security forces. We have SOF/SF units tied to the
Turkish Armed Forces, General Directorate of Security, Gendarmerie General Command, Coast Guard Command, MIT. It will be very difficult to cover in detail all of them so we will cover the most important, active and known ones.

First lets start with the SOF.

Police Special Operations POH

POH was first founded in 1983 part of the Public Security Department Presidency because of the need for a special trained teams ready to counter any terrorist threats coming from para-military organizations and capable of utilizing guerilla warfare techniques and tactics under the umbrella of the police. Later in 1987 because of the changing situation it was taken from Public Security Department Presidency and put under the command of the
Counter-Terror and Operations Department Presidency as Special Operations Branch Directorate. Because of the rise of terror attacks and activities of separatist organizations it was later reformed as different presidency with the name of Special Operations Department Presidency in 1993. Special Operations Branch directorates were founded in 48 provinces in Turkey. A POH personnel is trained in hostage rescue operations in all kinds of closed environments like plane, train, bus, metro. They are trained in order to be able to secure the safety of VIP's in high threat environment or react to any type of high threat calls on airports. In some cases POH is also responsible for the protection of representatives of Turkey in foreign countries like consulates and embassies. Some of the training a POH personnel receives is training in sharpshooting, combat in open field, urban warfare, road searches, home calls, finding and destroying explosive devices, transition from point A to point B, observation, reconnaissance. They also receive trainings of ambush, raid, haze, direction finding, map reading, base area creation, site formation and field deployment. They are basically the main special operations capable force in the police which is specialized in counter-terrorism. In the past they took experience from the Israel and brought it to Turkey. Israeli manners and accent are still visible in their work no matter if it comes to shooting techniques or tactics.

Gendarmerie Special Operations JOH

They are a Special Operation Forces tied to the Gendarmerie founded in 1993. First started as small number teams and then evolved into the main Special Operation Force that is being used by the Gendarmerie in the counter-terrorist operations. They are more qualified than the normal Gendarmerie Commando brigades and that is winning them a status of SOF. Their training is comparable to that of POH but it is more oriented in open field and mountain warfare while POH is more oriented at urban warfare. They are capable of fighting in all kinds of environments and weather conditions. They are highly specialized in mountain operations and are highly trained in alpine techniques and work with ropes. The JOH teams are mainly dispatched to the Eastern part of the country to participate in the war against terrorism taking place there. Their training is mainly conducted according to the
Turkish Armed Forces NATO doctrine with transferred experience from the West and Israel but also uses evolved tactics and procedures which were gained and constructed due to the Turkish experience developed in the war against terrorism.

Coast Guard Special Operations SOH

While not much is known about SOH it was founded in 2009 in order to meet the urgent need for
Special Operation Forces of the Coast Guard Command while before that such operations were carried by the
Sea Security Search and Operation teams DAGOT. SOH members are trained mainly in VBSS operations and maritime security. Their training is not different than any training program which is completed by equivalent forces around the world. Their training was mainly transferred from the experiences gained by DAGOT teams and also the units have good relationship and joint training programs and exercises with Gendarmerie's SF JOAK and also the TAF General Staff's Special Forces Command. For me they gained some publicity when operation in international waters was organized by the Coast Guard and the Turkish Navy close to Libyan coast with the name Albatros in 2016. In that operation 13.6 tons of marijuana was seized.

We covered the main SOF teams of the Turkish security forces. Now we are going to basically cover the main
SF teams.

Counter-Attack Team KAT

KAT are founded in 1993 by the bodyguard unit director of the 9th Turkish President Suleyman Demirel under the Presidential Protection Department Presidency. Sukru Cukurlu is a product of the Turkish counter-terror training while in the police, he trained in Germany, received training in close protection in the US and also worked as an instructor in the US when FBI gave him official invitation. He saw how the USSS layered and organized the security of the US president and decided to bring the experience he gained in the US in Turkey and he found KAT the
Turkish Counter-Attack Team. The team was later dissolved by the 10th President of Turkey Ahmet Sezer but brought to work by the 11th President Abdullah Gul again. KAT is composed by ex POH members who are filling the requirements to become KAT. KAT serves as a force trained to respond to any coordinated attack against the VIP they are responsible of and armed with variety of weapons systems and gear depending on the threat assessment. The difference of KAT compared to the bodyguards are that the bodyguards are tasked to shield the VIP and evacuate him from the danger zone while KAT are tasked to meet the firepower of the attackers and neutralize them even using heavy weapons. They are also highly trained in crisis management. KAT served all around the world including in hot zones like Iraq and Afghanistan. They also actively participated into the search operation for the kill team which was tasked to take President Erdogan in the night of 15th July coup.

Gendarmerie Special Public Security Command JOAK

JOAK is non homogeneous SF command found in 1999 by the Gendermerie General Commander General Aytac YALMAN in response to the need of special forces units of the Gendarmerie. In JOAK there are couple of branches related to the public security like Gendarmerie Search and Rescue JAK and the Gendarmerie Special Operations JOPER. Under JOAK command there are also couple of JOH units about which we talked above. There are personnel qualified in diving, mountaineering and parachuting. The pearl of JOAK are the Special Operations team JOPER. JOPER is the most professional unit part of the Gendarmerie tasked to respond to the Gendarmerie need for a special force capable of counter-terrorism. They are highly trained in hostage rescue operations in closed environment and are one of the most competent unit part of the Turkish security forces when it comes to hostage rescue tasks. They are also trained in counter-guerilla warfare, mountain warfare and highly trained in urban warfare. Even if their branch is more oriented at counter-terrorism and hostage rescue operation they are also capable of military grade operations.

Underwater Defense SAS

SAS was found in 1964 under the command of the Search and Underwater Command in the Turkish Navy with the name Underwater Defense SAM when the Turkish Navy and the NATO allies understood that Turkey needs EOD teams because of the situation with the USSR. It was part of the initiative to form special trained underwater units of the SEAL/UDT instructors which came in Turkey in 1963 and formed the Underwater Defense (SAS) Group Command and Underwater Offense (SAT) Group Command under the Search and Underwater Command of the Turkish Navy. One of the first instructors to come to Turkey was the legendary US Navy SEAL Bob Gallagher. EOD tasks were mainly completed by a regular explosive disposal divers until 1966 but when the need for keeping up to the latest tactics and procedures came Turkey started to send divers to the US to participate into the EOD courses made by the US Navy. This is how SAS started to form as the first and only SF EOD unit of the Turkish Navy we know today and that is where SAS and SAT were combined under one SAT and SAS Group Command. SAS and SAT Group Command was transferred directly to Navy General Headquarters Command in 1974. In the 1980 SAS were also given the task of securing critical naval ports and also trained in preventing covert attacks against maritime installations. Later SAT and SAS broke up and joined different commands. SAS actively participated in the war against terrorism and legends are being told for them from soldiers which served together with SAS. They took part both in domestic but also in operations in foreign territory. Notable operation in which SAS participated is the biggest evacuation of Turkish citizens when 1200 Turkish citizens were evacuated from Lebanon in joint initiative of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They also took part of the security measures when Abdullah Ocalan PKK's leader was brought to Turkey from Kenya, his travel to Imrali island, foreign operations in Iraq and Syria.

Underwater Defense SAT

As stated above it started as Underwater Commandos SAK and evolved into Underwater Offense SAT. Apart from SAS as special forces EOD/UDT unit the real offensive capability of the Turkish Navy is SAT. SAT is the Turkish equivalent of the SEAL teams found by SEAL/UDT instructors to counter the USSR threat in the seas. For the US at that time it was very important that Turkey posses special trained underwater units so Turkey could defend the Bosphorus strait from Russian naval assets and if needed to cross the enemy lines from sea and conduct special operations there. In the times of the war in Vietnam every year two Turkish SAT teams were in the US for receiving additional training by experiences gained by the Vietnam war. They were trained in maritime recon, underwater weapons, asymmetric tactics. All that work done by the Turkish and US instructors created one of the best trained special forces units in the world. From special forces waiting at the Bosphorus for Russian submarines in the year of 1974 SAT found to be on the spearhead when the first phase of the Cyprus Peace Operation started. Team of 24 SAT1 personnel was assigned to clean the beach areas around Girne from explosive devices, infiltrate the enemy and secure a bridge of strategic importance. After taking positions in Girne fortress SAT1 had to raid buildings that were known to be important, seize documents and bring them to Turkey. After their main objectives were completed they continued sabotages in Girne and managed to secure the city. SAT was the first unit to fire a bullet from the beginning of the Cyprus Peace Operation. After many years of service SAT is still active and is keeping up with the most actual training, gear and weapons. It is the main Special Forces unit of the Turkish Navy. They also took part of the war against terrorism in Turkey and abroad. They took part in the maritime security operations all around the world like Southeast Asia or Somalia. Extremely well trained with experiences gained from the US Navy Seals and Underwater Demolition Units and capable of conducting operations from Land, Sea and Air. Maybe the most notorious operation carried out by SAT was the Kardak/Imia crisis in 1996 when SAT team under the cover of the night managed to take down the Greek flag from the island. One Greek helicopter fell from the sky in the time of the events. The official version is technical issues.

Personnel Rescue CSAR/Forward Air Controllers IHK

The Turkish CSAR as far as I know have its roots in the Special Forces Command OKK under the name
Combat Search and Rescue MAK. After unfortunate events targeting the Turkish Armed Forces and its SF structures the CSAR command was transferred from OKK to the Air Forces Command's 135th fleet CSAR and FAC Command. The name of the CSAR is part of a lot of conspiracy theories regarding political killings and participation in provocative events in the internal affairs of the country. CSAR is trained to find VIP's behind enemy lines, secure them and evacuate them. Among them are qualified divers and also I think all are HAHO/HALO parachute qualified. In peace times CSAR is used mainly for Search and Rescue purposes evacuating military personnel or civilians which were injured by incidents or are suffering in areas with hard access. The Forward Air Controllers IHK are the dedicated Air Forces Command FAC unit which is also interoperable with other units. They are trained mainly in coordinating the ground forces and air power to prevent friendly fire in a CAS situation and to find and designate targets for the air forces.

Special Operations Command OKK

When we talk about about Special Forces we can't let OKK unmentioned. The Special Forces Command is the main Special Forces structure of the Turkish Armed Forces carrying strategic importance for Turkey. OKK is tied directly to the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces. It was first founded with the name Tactical Mobilization Group STK in 1952 by Danis Karabelen. Danis Karabelen was an Turkish military student who was taken out from the Military Academy at 1915 to take part in the defense of Gallipoli. He was working closely with Mustafa Kemal ATATURK. He is known to have worked for the ancestor of the National Intelligence Organization MIT the National Security Service MEH. He was trained there in the spirit of Teskilat i Mahsusa the Ottoman intelligence organization. He later participated actively in the Korean War and there started to discover the importance of the non-conventional warfare/guerilla warfare. After Turkey joined NATO Turkey started participation in joint mechanism against the USSR known as operation Gladio and started to prepare itself, the nation and the Turkish Armed Forces for a possible Sovyet invasion. Turkey discovered that it needs a special warfare capable units and in the leadership of Danis Karabelen the Tactical Mobilization group was found together with his experience from the Independence War, the intelligence, Korea and CIA's experience gained in the special warfare research centers. He was part of the first group of Turks which was special trained by CIA in their means. The objective of the STK was conduction special operations, guerilla warfare, mobilizing the civil population for resistance and usage of "underground" networks for successive conducting of guerilla warfare. One of the major initiative was the founding of the Turkish Resistance Organization TMT which later in 1974 was the Turkish para-military organization on the field. Later TMT was transformed to a regular armed force and the leader Rauf Denktas became the president of the North Cyprus Turkish Republic. This alone is enough to understand the influence STK had. STK had later involvement in the 1960's military coup. Later in 1965 the STK evolved into a much larger and complex structure with the name of Special Warfare Department OHD. The Special Warfare Department followed the tradition of STK but enlarged its structure, recruited civil agents trough the country and brought a new level of training of professional military personnel not only in Turkey but also around the world. The Special Warfare Department managed to bring real readiness to Turkey about a military conflict with the USSR. OHD personnel took part in covert operations all around the world and especially in the USSR. OHD personnel was highly trained with different understanding for warfare than the normal soldier. Their main activities were intelligence gathering, sabotage, political action, psychological warfare, guerilla warfare. OHD is also known to have founded and supported many para-military organizations including the notorious Grey Wolves and its branches abroad which was the para-military organization of the Nationalist Movement Party which was founded by Alparslan Turkes. Alparslan Turkes was in the first group of the CIA trained Turks together with Danis Karabelen the founder of STK and later one of the founders of OHD. OHD participated actively in the internal conflict rising between the political Left and Right wing supporters. OHD later played a major role in the 1980's military coup. Later it started to be even more active when Left separatist terrorist organizations started to form and it took a look of an armed conflict especially when the Kurdistan's Worker Party PKK organized its first military operation in 1984. OHD started to use all its resources and started covert actions against the Left entity in Turkey including false flag attacks. Previously requited civil agents were awaken and Right wing mafia started to form in Turkey against the Left entities under the OHD's supervising and then internal conflict in the Turkish security services started to form between Turkish patriots and personnel working for the CIA and the Gladio network. Rogue organizations and units started to form in all intelligence agencies and also OHD. Turkey reached a state where it was a vassal State of the US and the patriotic part of the security services saw that and tried to intervene. After multiple killings of security agents, shady individuals, journalists and Left wing collaborators the OHD was out of control and it was reorganized into the Special Forces Command OKK in 1992. OKK was restructured many times. Overall the fight against the traitors continued until 2016. OKK as many think is not a homogeneous structure. It is a "nest" of Special Forces units which have many different branches and levels of qualification. In 2000 even a Search and Rescue Special Force unit was formed with the name Natural Disasters Search and Rescue DAK. Everyone serving in OKK have one common base/transition into the Special Forces by completing a 32 week Special Forces Specialization Course which gives the basic Special Forces training for conducting operations from Land, Sea and Air. The personnel can stay or return to his unit and stay as reserve. After that course is completed according to the talents and decision for professional development of the personnel he can participate in other courses also. The Special Forces Command is requiting soldiers from every branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. Personnel from the Land Forces, Air Forces and Navy can join the Special Forces Command. OKK can also take command of other SF units if needed. There are teams with different levels of qualification. OKK personnel can also participate in international training abroad. The training programs and tactics of the OKK are mainly NATO standard but also have its unique sides. The long experience of the OKK and its ancestors in all kind of special operations, covert action, political action, psychological operations and guerilla warfare together with the transferred knowledge and experience of CIA and the Gladio network make OKK a unique force. OKK keeps improving itself, its structure and is keeping up with the most recent and effective training practices, weapons and gear. Some of the notorious operations in which OKK played a major role are the capturing of one of the leaders of PKK Semdin Sakik together with his brother in Northern Iraq in a lightning fast operation, the capturing of the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in Kenya, all of the large scale military incursions in Northern Iraq, and Syria and many more known and unknown operations in Turkey and abroad.

The Turkish security forces have many known and also unknown special trained units. I tried to cover some of them here and some of their achievements.
Click to expand...
thank you bro, it was informative.:tup::tup:
 
there are many ''stolen'' mottos in the language. for instance ''hay hay efendim'' is originally a derivate of ''aye aye sir!''
 

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