Special Forces Command (Turkey)

First established on 27 September 1952 as the Special and Auxiliary Combat Troops, on 7 November 1953 it was renamed the Mobilization Investigation Board. On 14 December 1970, it was reorganized as the Special Warfare Department.[9] Due to the emergence of external dangers after the Gulf War and threats from the northern part of Iraq, the Special Forces Command was established as a brigade on 14 April 1992, by changing its campus and structure.[10] Later, the division was followed by the corps with the decision of the 2006 Supreme Military Council, reaffirmed in 2015.[11] They ranked first among twenty-six special forces troops at the World Special Forces Championship held in Germany in 2004.[12]

In 1998, Turkey's special forces KDP Şemdin Sakık'ın Upon receiving a negative response to be delivered to the requesting team to Iraq to infiltrate the operation and were brought to the country seized.[13] Greek Embassy in Kenya in 1999, Abdullah Öcalan's plane upon receipt of the Netherlands how many aircraft will use a similar intelligence leased aircraft made the landing at the airport in Nairobi and arrested by special forces teams were brought to Turkey.[14] In 2014, after 49 consular employees were taken hostage by ISIS in Mosul, OKK carried out joint operations with MIT and rescued the hostages.[15] With the start of the operation against Syria in 2017, OKK infiltrated the region and carried out exploration activities supported by the Free Syrian Army.[16]

The identities of Turkish SOF personal is classified. Unlike other special operations teams, Turkish SOF Officers are battle hardened and are constantly operating and are active in the war on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeastern Iraqi border region of Turkey and into Northern Iraq. They operate against the terrorist organization's executive positions and critical points across the border.[17][18]

The Special Forces are not aligned to any of the three branches of the TAF, receiving its orders directly from the General Staff of the Republic of Turkey.[21] Although considered a brigade-level formation, as of 2017, this includes non-combatant units and administrative duties personnel. The combatant size of the OKK is not greater than 500.[22]

Only Army officers and NCOs are eligible to join this the OKK. Linguistic skills in at least one foreign language is beneficial toward admission.[22] Each recruit must have served at least 3 years and must have a certain amount of time in operations, either from exercises or actual clashes.

The OKK training period lasts around 3.5 years, and addresses:[26][27] unconventional warfare and various special warfare types, special operations, special reconnaissance and infiltration, covert operations, psychological warfare, underwater operation, static parachute and HALO (night and day jump), counter-terrorism in residential areas, close-quarters combat, resisting vital maintenance and torture-ınterrogation, ambush, raid, sabotage, escape, VIP protection, marksmanship, ıntelligence, languages, survival, operation in deep snow, severe cold and heat, bomb disposal, demolition, fire arrangement, damage detection, and first and emergency aid.[22]

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 officially becoming an MB officer. They are expected to survive in all environmental conditions, so as part of the final testing stage the teams are left in different environments with no equipment or help for two weeks.

On the last month of training, called 'hell month', Maroon Berets receive interrogation and torture training.[28] Also in the final month is the Trust Shot (Turkish: Güven Atışı) exercise. In this exercise, two members of a squad flank paper target boards while a third advances from 15 m (49 ft), shooting at the targets with live ammunition. Those standing are not permitted to move or wear body armour. Few other special operations teams perform such tests.[29]

Media related to Special forces of Turkey at Wikimedia Commons

• Lale Sariibrahimoglu, 'Live-fire exercises shine spotlight on Turkey's special forces,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 7 January 2004