Turkey to build crescent-star shaped combined military HQs in Ankara

ANKARA

Turkey will build a massive combined military headquarters and collect the Defense Ministry, the chief of General Staff as well as force commands under a single roof in a bid to further coordinate the country’s defense, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said.

“In line with changing and developing defense needs, we are obliged to collect all the different institutions under the same roof and work with them in coordination. There is a need for a combined center. This center will issue a very different signal regarding the defense and investments,” Erdoğan told at the groundbreaking ceremony of the massive military complex in a suburb of Ankara on Aug. 30.

The complex will gather the Defense Ministry, the chief of General Staff and the headquarters of the land, air and navy forces which are all currently located in the city’s economic heart, Kızılay. Recalling that these buildings were built between the 1930s and 1960s, Erdoğan said the current security conditions require a better-coordinated defense institution.

“Our objective is to inaugurate this complex on the centennial of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey Oct. 29, 2023,” he said, informing that the highest technology will be used for this environment-friendly premises.

Around 15,000 personnel will be able to work in this nearly 900,000 square meters of indoor space, which will be built on a 12.6-million-square-meter area, the president informed.

This kind of structure illustrates Turkey’s rising power in its region and its determination not to allow those who want to disintegrate the country, Erdoğan said, recalling how its efforts in the fight against terrorism were crippled by many countries, including the United States which rejected to supply the Turkish army with military radios.

“Those who have left Turkey tying its hands against a cheap terror organization will pay the price before the history,” he said. Thanks to the government’s commitment to end the foreign dependency on the defense sector, Turkey is now able to deter all the enemies.

Citing the FETÖ’s coup attempt in mid-2016 through activating its secret members within the army, Erdoğan said Turkey and the Turkish people have successfully dispersed this occupation attempt and reinforced democracy.

'Military expelled 21,000 staff after coup attempt'

Erdoğan said that the Turkish Armed Forces expelled 21,000 of its staff over ties to the FETÖ.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the Army War College in the capital Ankara, Erdoğan said no other country in the world had been subjected to such a shock as the coup attempt of July 15, 2016 and went on to introduce such a successful new system in such a short time.

Erdoğan said that after the coup attempt, Turkey had carried out a comprehensive reform of the Turkish Armed Forces, including its educational institutions.

He underlined that the college provided education to a total of 16,448 students and trainees in the 2020-2021 academic year, of which 15,501 were Turkish and 947 foreign guests from 20 different countries.

The number of graduates has now reached 23,433 together with the guests, Erdoğan said, adding: "In other words, the losses of the July 15 coup have been more than compensated for in terms of numbers."

"Our university, which has achieved a rate of over 99% in vaccination of its students and staff by taking all the necessary health measures, has also become an exemplary institution in this respect," he said.

Erdoğan said that a total of 1,452 student, 1,351 Turkish and 101 foreign, were graduating from the military academies affiliated with the college.