Gendarmerie General Command

After the abolition of the Janissary corps of the Ottoman Empire in 1826, military organizations called Asâkir-i Muntazâma-i Mansûre, Asâkir-i Muntazâma-i Hâssa, and, in 1834, Asâkir-i Redîfe were established for security and public order in Anatolia and in some provinces of Rumelia.

British officers in the Ottoman Gendarmerie, 1904

As the first use of the term Gendarmerie was in the Assignment Decrees published in the years following the 1839 Edict of Gülhane, it is assumed that the Gendarmerie organization was founded after that year, but the exact date of foundation has not yet been determined. Therefore, the date on which the name Asâkir-i Zaptiye Nizâmnâmesi was adopted, June 14, 1839, is usually considered the foundation date of the Turkish Gendarmerie.[3]

After the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War, Ottoman prime minister Mehmed Said Pasha decided to bring police officers from Britain and France to establish a modern law enforcement organization. The Gendarmerie was used to great effect after the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, particularly in Rumelia. In 1909, the Gendarmerie was affiliated with the Ministry of War, and its name was changed to the Gendarmerie General Command (Ottoman Turkish: Umûm Jandarma Kumandanlığı‎).

Gendarmerie units continued their internal security duties as well as taking part in the conflict at various fronts as a part of the Armed Forces during World War I and the Turkish War of Independence.

The Gendarmerie organization achieved its current legal status on June 10, 1930. In 1939, the Gendarmerie organization was restructured, having three groups: Fixed Gendarmerie Units, Mobile Gendarmerie Units, and Gendarmerie Training Units and Schools.

In 1956, the Gendarmerie General Command was assigned the duties of protecting borders, coasts and territorial waters, and fighting smuggling, which had been previously carried out by the Gümrük Umum Kumandanlığı, under the Ministry of Customs and Monopoly. In 1957, Gendarmerie Border Units were transformed into brigades, and Gendarmerie Training Brigades were established.

In 1961, Gendarmerie Regional Commands were established. In 1968, the first Gendarmerie Aviation Unit was established in Diyarbakır under the name of Light Helicopter Company Command.

In 1974, Gendarmerie Commando Units and Gendarmerie Aviation Units took part in the Turkish military operations in Cyprus.

In 1988, the duty of protecting the land borders and ensuring their security was assigned to the Land Forces Command, but Gendarmerie General Command still holds the responsibility for some parts of the Iranian and Syrian borders and the whole Iraqi border.

The Gendarmerie Criminal Department was founded in Ankara in 1993 and from 1994, Gendarmerie Regional Criminal Laboratory Superiorities‹See Tfd›? were founded. Crime Scene Examination Teams, Explosive Material Disposal Units, Fingerprints and Palm Prints Branches and Crime Scene Examination Units were also established.

In 2016, the Gendarmerie General Command was affiliated to the Ministry of Interior.[4]

In 2018, Gendarmerie Special Operations participated in Operation Olive Branch, part of the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War.

The Gendarmerie General Command currently has a total of 3,600 units, including 3,056 Internal Security Units, 218 Commando Units, 162 Prison Units, 160 Protection Units and four Aviation Units.

• Finding crimes and criminals,
• Capturing suspects,
• Transferring evidence judicial authorities,
• Conduct preparatory investigations when instructed to by the public prosecutor,
• Transporting prisoners between jails and courthouses.

• To ensure that the services for general safety and security are carried out in accordance with the relevant legislation,
• To carry out the services of informing the public about how to protect the society from public order crime, directing children and young people to crime and taking precautionary measures,
• To evaluate the information and statistics about public order crimes, to conduct or have an analysis of the crime and to determine the methods of combating crime to prevent public order crimes by evaluating them,
• Carrying out activities to prevent crime,
• Preventing, pursuing and investigating smuggling,
• External protection of penal institutions and detention centers.

• To perform military services provided by law

• These are duties other than judicial, military and civil duties, such as facility and personal protection and transport security, which must be carried out in accordance with laws and regulations, orders and decisions.

Gendarmerie General Command Headquarters (Ankara)

• Gendarmerie Security Corps Command (Van, Turkey)
  • 23. Gendarmerie Border Division (Şırnak)
  • 21. Gendarmerie Border Brigade (Yüksekova)
  • 1. Gendarmerie Commando Brigade (Çakırsöğüt, Şırnak)
  • 2. Gendarmerie Commando Brigade (Bornova, Izmir)
• Gendarmerie Training Command (Ankara, İncek, Gölbaşı)
  • 1. Gendarmerie Training Battalion Command (Aydın)
  • 2. Gendarmerie Training Battalion Command (Bilecik)
  • 3. Gendarmerie Training Battalion Command (Ezine, Çanakkale)
  • 5. Gendarmerie Training Regiment Command (Gölköy, Kastamonu)
  • 6. Gendarmerie Commando Training Regiment Command (Kırkağaç, Manisa)
  • 7. Gendarmerie Commando Training Regiment Command (Yenifoça, İzmir)
  • Gendarmerie Combat Training Battalion Command (Seferihisar, İzmir)
  • Gendarmerie Transport Battalion Command (Söğüt, Bilecik)
  • 10. Gendarmerie Training Regiment Command (Bornova, Izmir)
  • 116. Gendarmerie Private Training Regiment Command (Çanakkale)
  • 121. Gendarmerie Training Regiment Command (Serinyol, Antakya)
  • 125. Gendarmerie Training Regiment Command (Safranbolu, Karabük)
  • Işıklar Gendarmerie NCO High School (Bursa) ( was established in 1845 as "Mekteb-i Fünun-u İdadi"')
  • Gendarmerie Horse and Dog Training Center Command (Nevşehir) (JAKEM)
• Gendarmerie Logistics Command (Güvercinlik, Ankara)
• Gendarmerie Aviation Command (Güvercinlik, Ankara)
  • Gendarmerie UAV Command (Elazığ)
• Gendarmerie Special Public Security Command (JÖAK)
  • Gendarmerie Special Operations (JÖH)[6]
  • Gendarmerie Search and Rescue Battalion Command (JAK)[7]
  • Gendarmerie Underwater Search and Rescue Teams (SAK)[8]
  • Gendarmerie Public Security Boat Commands (Security and public order services at inland waters are carried out by the Gendarmerie Public Order Boat Commands.)
• Military Police (Askeri İnzibat, AS.İZ)
• Village guards
• Prison Gendarmerie Division Commands (There are garrison stations appointed in every prison)
• The Gendarmerie Band Command[9]

• Provincial Gendarmerie Commands in 81 provinces & in 388 districts.
  • The Crime Scene Investigation Teams (CSIT) (Working under the Provincial and District Gendarmerie Commands systematically examine the crime scene by means of technical and scientific methods; properly gather physical evidences; pack and send them to forensic laboratories.)
  • Explosive Ordnance Disposal Teams ( which have been established in tourism regions, regions with a concentration of terror incidents and big cities, dispose of explosive ordnances.)
  • Crime scene investigation units[10]
  • Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department (ASOCD)[11]

• Gendarmerie Traffic Teams
  • The Gendarmerie Motorcycled Public Order Teams (Round-the-clock at the highways established by the protocols in the responsibility areas of the Gendarmerie General Command.)
• Gendarmerie Dog Teams
• Gendarmerie Environmental Protection Teams (Environmental Protection Teams have been established in order to protect environment, ecological balance and natural life, to protect living species and areas protected by national legislation and international conventions and to prevent environmental pollution.)[12]
• The Gendarmerie Mounted Units (Used in performing patrolling services at resort areas, forestlands, recreation spots and museums (Topkapı Palace), and in performing preventive law enforcement services.)[13]

• Yavuz 16[15]

• SPAS-12[15]

• HK MP5[15]
• P90[16]

• AKM[15]
• HK G3[15]
• HK G41[15]
• HK33A4[15]
• M16A1[15]
• MKEK MPT-76
• Kale KCR-556 New primary rifle of Gendarmerie 43.500 Rifles delivered late 2019[17]

• HK23E[15]
• RPK
• M2[15]
• MG3[15]
• PKM[15]

• Arctic Warfare[15]
• SVD[15]
• Tac-50[15]

• HK 69[15]
• Milkor MGL[15]
• Mk 19[18]
• RPG-7[15] 7B[19]

• M19[15]
• M29[15]
• Mortier 120mm Rayé Tracté Modèle F1[15]