The Aegean Army or Fourth Army is one of the four main

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

s 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 covers the entire west coast of the

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

peninsula and has its headquarters in

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

. It was organised in the 1970s in response to political tensions with

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

- the ongoing

Aegean dispute Aegean may refer to: *Aegean Sea * Aegean Islands *Aegean Region (geographical), Turkey *Aegean Region (statistical), Turkey *Aegean civilizations *Aegean languages, a group of ancient languages and proposed language family *Aegean Sea (theme), a ...

. Its stated mission is to protect Turkey's territory on its western coast. This is directed against the perceived threat posed by Greece's armament of the Aegean Sea islands. Greece, on the other hand, perceives the presence of the Aegean Army as a threat to its islands, citing strong offensive capabilities ascribed to the Aegean Army as well as the exposed and isolated geographical position of the islands, the 5 most populous of which are several hundred kilometres distant from the Greek mainland, yet sit only 2-3km from Turkey's, as reasons of concern. Greek sources particularly point to the strong amphibian forces maintained by the Aegean Army as an indicator of its offensive nature. Turkey has countered such concerns by stating that besides being of a fundamentally defensive nature it is "basically a training army".

History

It was established on July 20, 1975, independently from

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, when the situation became more tense and the possibility of war increased with the Cyprus Operation, which was made in a period when the tension increased after the coup in Greece on April 21, 1967, against the threat posed by the armament of

in the Aegean islands. Its headquarters is in

Narlıdere Narlıdere is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is one of the nine districts in the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, one of the smallest in terms both of population and area, and is fully (100.0%) urbanized. The district center has ...

Units

The Army has been reported to consist of the following units and organizations: *

Cyprus Turkish Peace Force 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 G ...

**Headquarters *** 28th Mechanized Infantry Division ( Paşaköy Kyrenia) *** 39th Mechanized Infantry Division ( Çamlıbel, Morphou) *** 14th Armoured Brigade ( Degirmenlik,

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

) *** 49th Special Force Regiment *** 41st Commando Regiment *** 109th Field Artillery Regiment *** 190th

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

Battalion *** Communications Battalion *** Central Command Military Police Battalion *** Logistics Support Group (

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 ...

) *57th Artillery Training Brigade ( Izmir) *19th Infantry Brigade ( Edremit) *11th Motorised Infantry Brigade (

Denizli Denizli is an industrial city in the southwestern part of Turkey and the eastern end of the alluvial valley formed by the river Büyük Menderes, where the plain reaches an elevation of about . Denizli is located in the country's Aegean Region. ...

) *3rd Infantry Training Brigade (

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

) *1st Infantry Training Brigade (

Manisa Manisa (), historically known as Magnesia, is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province. Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port cit ...

).Forum discussion of current structure
drawn from S&H Magazine *Marines Brigade (

Foça Foça is a town and district in Turkey's İzmir Province, on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast. The town of Foça is situated at about northwest of İzmir's city center. The district also has a township with its own municipality named Yenifoça (lite ...

)

References

External links

Turkey and Greece: Time to Settle the Aegean Dispute
* https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1975IZMIR00162_b.html - 1975

United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

report of creation of army {{Turkish army formations Field armies of Turkey Military in İzmir Province Military units and formations established in 1975

History

Units

See also

References

External links