Gendarmerie General Command Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı
Emblem of the Gendarmerie General Command
Flag of the Gendarmerie General Command
Agency overview
Formed	1839[1]
Preceding agencies	Gendarmerie Organisation Ottoman Gendarmerie
Employees	196,863 sworn members (As of January 2020) + 80,000 to 90,000 Village guards.[2] 1,475 Armored and utility vehicles 59 Helicopters [3]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Turkey
General nature	Gendarmerie
Operational structure
Headquarters	Ankara
Elected officer responsible	Süleyman Soylu, Minister of the Interior
Agency executives	General Arif Çetin, Commander Lt. General Ali Çardakçı, Deputy Commander Lt. General Musa Çitil, Deputy Commander
Parent agency	Ministry of the Interior Turkish Armed Forces[4] (in case of war)
Notables
Significant operations	Operation Attila Turkey-PKK Conflict Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War
Website
jandarma.gov.tr/

The Gendarmerie General Command (Turkish: Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı) is the national Gendarmerie force of the Republic of Turkey. It is a service branch of the Turkish Ministry of Interior responsible for the maintenance of the public order in areas that fall outside the jurisdiction of police forces (generally in rural areas), as well as assuring internal security along with carrying out other specific duties assigned to it by certain laws and regulations. In wartime, some of its elements can be subordinated to Turkish Land Forces by the President

The Commander of the Gendarmerie reports to the Minister of the Interior.

The Gendarmerie has its roots in the Ottoman Empire military law enforcement organization "Subaşı" (later known as the "Zaptiye"). A similar, earlier force called "Şurta" existed during the medieval Seljuq Empire.

History

Ottoman era

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[5]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Republic of Turkey

20th century

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

In 1974, Gendarmerie Commando Units and Gendarmerie Aviation Units took part in the Turkish military operations in Cyprus.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

The Gendarmerie Criminal Department was founded in Ankara in 1993 and from 1994, Gendarmerie Regional Criminal Laboratory Superiorities? were founded. Crime Scene Examination Teams, Explosive Material Disposal Units, Fingerprints and Palm Prints Branches and Crime Scene Examination Units were also established.^{[citation needed]}

21st century

In 2016, the Gendarmerie General Command was affiliated to the Ministry of Interior.^[6]

In 2018, Gendarmerie Special Operations participated in Operation Olive Branch, part of the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

Duties

The duties of the gendarmerie according to the Law No. 2803 on the Organization, Duties and Powers of the Gendarmerie; It is categorized under four main titles as judicial, military, civil and other duties.^[7]

Judicial duties

• 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.

Civil duties

• 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.

Military duties

• To perform military services provided by law

Other duties

• 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.

Structure

Commands

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)^[8]
  • Gendarmerie Search and Rescue Battalion Command (JAK)^[9]
  • Gendarmerie Underwater Search and Rescue Teams (SAK)^[10]
  • Gendarmerie Public Security Boat Commands (Security and public order services at inland waters are carried out by the Gendarmerie Public Order Boat Commands.)
• Village guards
• Prison Gendarmerie Division Commands (There are garrison stations appointed in every prison)
• The Gendarmerie Band Command^[11]

Criminal units

• 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^[12]
  • Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department (ASOCD)^[13]

Other units

• 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.)^[14]
• 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.)^[15]

Gallery

• 
  Gendarmerie officer with an MP5 at Topkapı Palace in Istanbul
• 
  Gendarmerie private
• 
  Gendarmerie's Ford Transit and a trooper
• 
  Traffic gendarmerie's Renault Megane
• 
  Gendarmerie interceptor
• 
  Jandarma Barracks in Sivas built in 1908
• 
  Gendarmerie museum
• 
  BTR-80 in the gendarmerie inventory
• 
  Gendarme School emblem
• 
  Sergeant gendarme rank
• 
  Logo of Işıklar Gendarmerie NCO High School
• 
  Gendarmerie Search and Rescue Battalion Command teams during Soma mine disaster
• 
  Işıklar Gendarmerie NCO High School
• Gendarmerie Search and Rescue Battalion Command logo
  Gendarmerie Search and Rescue Battalion Command logo
• 
  Gendarmerie and Coast Guard Academy
• 
  Gendarmerie Martyrs' Memorial
• 
  The Kızılırmak Delta is guarded by the mounted gendarme team
• 
  Sikorsky S-70i helicopter of the Turkish Gendarmerie

The Gendarmerie Museum

The Gendarmerie Museum is established in order to reflect the developments in periodical order beginning with the foundation of the Gendarmerie organization; to exhibit its activities, heroic deeds, services in the history; to protect all kinds of military cultural assets related to the Gendarmerie by collecting them and to transfer them to the future generations. The Gendarmerie Museum in the Beytepe Lieutenant General İsmail SELEN Quarters in Ankara and is open to public.^[16]

Equipment

Handguns

• Yavuz 16^[17]
• Glock 19^[18]
• TP9^[19]
• K2000^[20]
• M1911^[21]

Shotguns

• SPAS-12^[17]

Submachine guns

• HK MP5^[17]
• P90^[22]
• SAR-109T^[23]
• Uzi^[24]

Assault and battle rifles

• AKM^[17]
• HK G3^[17]
• HK G41^[17]
• HK33A4^[17]
• M16A1^[17]
• MKEK MPT-76
• Kale KCR-556 New primary rifle of Gendarmerie 43.500 Rifles delivered late 2019^[25]
• Galil MAR used by Turkish Gendarmarie commando's^[26][27]
• SAR 223P^[28]
• SAR 308 used by Village guards.

Machine guns

• HK23E^[17]
• RPK
• M2^[17]
• MG3^[17]
• PKM^[17]

Sniper rifles

• Arctic Warfare^[17]
• SVD^[17]
• Tac-50^[17]

• SR-25^[29]
• Armalite M-15T^[30]
• IMI Galatz^[31]
• Accuracy International AWM ^[32]
• MKEK JNG-90^[33]
• Robar RC-50^[34]
• PSL (rifle)^[35]

Rocket and grenade launchers

• HK 69^[17]
• Milkor MGL^[17]
• Mk 19^[36]
• RPG-7^[17] 7B^[37]

Mortars

• M19^[17]
• M29^[17]
• Mortier 120mm Rayé Tracté Modèle F1^[17]

Vehicles

Model	Image	Origin	Type	Variant	Number	Details
Armored personnel carriers
Sisu Nasu		Finland	Tracked All-Terrain Vehicle	NA-140 BT	47
Kirpi		Turkey	MRAP	Kirpi 4x4	200	Based on the Israeli Hatehof Navigator.[38]
Cobra		Turkey	MRAP	Cobra I	200	Its suspension / wheel base is based on the American HMMWV which led some to mistakenly claim that Turkey actually uses the HMMWV as one of its utility vehicles.[39]
Otokar Akrep		Turkey	MRAP		unknown	Turkish Land Forces as new models enter the equipment slowly giving the old equipment to the gendarmerie.
Cadillac Gage Commando		United States	Armored Personnel Carrier	V-150S	124	Lacking a dedicated vehicle for its reconnaissance battalions, Turkey ordered 124 LAV-150 vehicles in 1992 from the Cadillac Corporation.[citation needed]
Otokar ZPT		Turkey	Armored Car		250	After the cancellation of Akrep, Otokar started to produce cheaper alternative for the law enforcement agencies and the army. ZPT is based on Shorland S-55.
BTR-60		Soviet Union/ Germany	Armored Personnel Carrier	BTR-60PB	323[40]	Bought from ex-GDR stockpile after German unification.[41] All modernized.
Condor		Germany	Armored Personnel Carrier	Condor 1	25[40]
Dragoon		United States	Armored Personnel Carrier	Dragoon 300	60
Concealed Armored D-Max	[2]	Turkey	Armored Car	Pick-Up	x	4+1 passenger capacity
Aircraft
Beechcraft Super King Air[42][43]		United States	Light transport aircraft	B350[44]	Unknown	Used by Gendarmerie Aviation Command[45]
Cessna C-680		United States	Light transport aircraft	C-680[46]	Unknown	Used by Gendarmerie Aviation Command[47]
Dornier Do 28		Germany	Transport	Do-28D	2[48]
Helicopters
UH-60 Black Hawk		United States/ Turkey	Utility helicopter	S-70A T-20 S-70i	27	Avionics upgraded by ASELSAN.T-70 variant in use. 30 more on order
UH-1 Huey		United States/ Turkey	Utility helicopter	AB-205[49]	13	Avionics upgraded by ASELSAN.
TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK		Turkey	Attack helicopter	T129	8[50]	12 more on order. Produced by TAI.
Mil Mi-17		Russia/ Turkey	Utility helicopter	Mi-17 IVA	18	Avionics upgraded by ASELSAN.
Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles
TAI Anka		Turkey	UAV	Anka B Anka S	2[51] 6[52]	Elazig Gendarmerie UAV command[53][54]
Bayraktar TB2		Turkey	UAV	TB2	18[55]
Bayraktar Mini UAV		Turkey	UAV	C	unknown
Black Hornet Nano[56]		Norway	Micro-UAV	PD-100 Black Hornet	unknown

Insignia

Generals

Colonel general	Lieutenant general	Major General	Brigadier general

Officers

Colonel	Lieutenant colonel	Major	Captain	First lieutenant	Lieutenant	Officer cadet

Petty officers

Petty officer Staff sergeant	Petty officer Sergeant major	Petty officer Senior Sergeant	Petty officer Sergeant	Petty officer Senior Sergeant	Petty officer Sergeant

Expert Gendarmeries

Expert Gendarmerie Rank VIII Sergeant	Expert Gendarmerie Rank VII Sergeant	Expert Gendarmerie Rank VI Sergeant	Expert Gendarmerie Rank V Sergeant	Expert Gendarmerie Rank IV Sergeant	Expert Gendarmerie Rank III Sergeant	Expert Gendarmerie Rank II Sergeant	Expert Gendarmerie Rank I Sergeant	Expert Gendarme Sergeant

Expert Sergeants

Expert Sergeant IV Rank	Expert Sergeant III Rank	Expert Sergeant II Rank	Expert Sergeant I Rank	Expert Sergeant	Expert Corporal

See also

• List of General Commanders of the Gendarmerie of Turkey
• Constabulary
• Gendarmerie
• Military equipment of Turkey

Notes

References

External links

• Official website