Turkey’s Special Forces sees record application in four days

ANKARA

Thousands of people have applied to be recruited by Turkey’s Special Forces Command, which will recruit personnel from outside the military for the first time ever amid ongoing suspensions and dismissals carried out in the army since the failed coup attempt of July 15. 

According to initial data, a total of 7,929 people have applied to the command in only four days.

Some 2,757 of the applications were for active officer posts in the command while another 5,172 were for active non-commissioned officer posts.

The Defense Ministry is planning to recruit a total of 200 new officers and 500 new sergeants to the Special Forces Command. 

Applicants wanting to become officers are required to be at least university graduates and must have obtained at least 50 points in the Public Personnel Selection Exam (KPSS). Applicants wanting to become sergeants must have at least an association degree and must have obtained at least 50 points in the KPSS.

Applications will be open until the end of the month.

The ministry has also prepared posters to attract fresh recruits using pictures of Maroon Beret soldiers of the Special Forces carrying weapons, as well as non-commissioned officer Ömer Halisdemir, who was killed by coup-attempting soldiers on the night of the attempted coup in Ankara.

“We are waiting for the officers and sergeants of the future,” a statement on the poster read.

Previously, Special Forces personnel were chosen from within the Turkish Armed Forces by volunteer applications. The applicants underwent an intensive series of course and training and the successive candidates were accepted to the Special Forces Command.