The 6th Corps (Turkish: 6. Kolordu) is a

field corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

of the

Turkish Army The Turkish Land Forces ( tr, Türk Kara Kuvvetleri), or Turkish Army (Turkish: ), is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the ...

. It is headquartered at

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

Adana Province Adana Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey located in central Cilicia. With a population of 2.26 million, it is the sixth most populous province in Turkey. The administrative seat of the province is the city of Adana, home to 79% of the r ...

, and is part of Second Army. The 1974 Turkish military operations in Cyprus consisted of two distinct offensives, the first being "Atilla 1", which commenced in the early hours of July 20, 1974, with an amphibious landing force, directed by the 6th Corps, forming a beachhead at

Kyrenia Kyrenia ( el, Κερύνεια ; tr, Girne ) is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. While there is evidence showing that the wider region ...

's Five Mile Beach. It comprised only infantry troops, but was supported by rolling air and naval artillery attacks, and met with limited resistance from the

Cyprus National Guard , name2 = National Guard General Staff , image = Emblem of the Cypriot National Guard.svg , image_size = 100px , caption = Emblem of the National Guard of Cyprus , image2 = Flag of the ...

, which was in disarray as a result of the July 15, 1974 coup. The majority of fighting ceased on the 23rd of July, though sporadic clashes continued after this date until the 14th of August. "Atilla 1" successfully achieved its objective of forming a bridgehead with the

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...

enclave of Agyrta-Nicosia.Drousiotis, 2004. When the corps that carried out the Cyprus Operation landed in Cyprus, its name was changed to the

Cyprus Turkish Peace Forces The Cyprus Turkish Peace Force Command ( tr, Kıbrıs Türk Barış Kuvvetleri Komutanlığı) is the Turkish garrison in Cyprus. In 1974 Turkish troops invaded Cyprus following a Greek Cypriot coup d'état (organized and supported by the Gr ...

. It was re-established immediately after the operation. 6th Corps was reported in 2004 to consist of: * 5th Armored Brigade (

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approximat ...

) * 39th Mechanized Infantry Brigade (

İskenderun İskenderun ( ar, الإسكندرونة, el, Αλεξανδρέττα "Little Alexandria"), historically known as Alexandretta and Scanderoon, is a city in Hatay Province on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Names The city was founded as Ale ...

) * 106th Artillery Regiment ( Islahiye) The corps was temporarily reduced in status to a division, the 6th Mechanised Infantry Division, in late 2011 after the arrest of Lieutenant General Mehmet Eröz as part of the "Internet memorandum" case, but by June 2012 Turkish press reports were reporting that it would be upgraded in status to corps level once more. In fact, it was only 2021, it was raised to the corps level again and Lieutenant General Metin Tokel was appointed as the commander.

References

*Phase Line Attila: The Amphibious Campaign for Cyprus, 1974, by Edward J. Erickson and Mesut Uyar. Quantico, VA: Marine Corps Univ. Press, 2020. 235 pages. Free hardcover and e-book. *Hughes-Wilson, John. "The Forgotten War: A Brief History of the Battle for Cyprus, 1974." The RUSI Journal 156, no. 5 (2011): 84-93. *Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu
Chapter 5, 'Turkish Armed Forces'
i
Umit Cizre (ed.), 'Democratic Oversight and Reform of the Security Sector in Turkey,'
LIT/DCAF 2008, . Corps of Turkey {{mil-unit-stub