The 5th Commando Brigade, more commonly known as the Hakkari Mountain and Commando Brigade ( Turkish: ''Hakkâri Dağ ve Komando Tugayı''), stationed in

Hakkâri Province Hakkâri Province (, tr, Hakkâri ili, ku, Parêzgeha Colemêrgê), is a province in the southeast of Turkey. The administrative centre is the city of Hakkâri. The province covers an area of 7,121 km² and had a population of 286,470 in ...

in southeastern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, founded as a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

of the 1st Commando Brigade. Because of the ongoing Kurdish-Turkish conflict, the formation enlarged from the size of a battalion to a brigade. The brigade has four commando battalions, a support group, and an artillery battalion, which are deployed to different districts of Hakkari Province. Its main opponent is the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(PKK). The unit has lost around 700 troops in its clashes with the

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...

Community relations

In 2000, the servicemen of the unit started a lecturing program for high school students in Hakkari, who want to take part at the Student Selection and Placement Examination (ÖSYS), which is compulsory to enter a university in Turkey, lack however adequate financial means to visit a

cram school A cram school, informally called crammer and colloquially also referred to as test-prep or exam factory, is a specialized school that trains its students to achieve particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high schoo ...

. The next year, the lecturing service was extended to a four-group program including also students, who want to prepare themselves for the exams such as the high school entrance (LGS), foreign language proficiency (YDS) and postgraduate education (LES) in addition to a course for English language. Within four years, a total of 2,000 students benefited from this social service of the military at the cram school called "Mehmetçik Dershanesi". The lecturers, in total 19, are selected from the

conscripts Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

who are professional teachers. In August 2020, the Brigade was accused of ignoring complaints about the pollution of local waterways by its sewage.

Monuments

Inside the brigade, there is the monument of "Those Who Raise the Sun by Their Names" there are 2 arms statues interconnected with each other and a giant commando statue 50 meters after the entrance. The monument was built in 1995 by the brigade commander of the period,

Brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Osman Pamukoğlu Osman Pamukoğlu (born December 27, 1947) is a retired major general of the Turkish Army, author and politician who founded the Rights and Equality Party The Rights and Equality Party ( tr, Hak ve Eşitlik Partisi, HEPAR) was a political part ...

References

Reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hakkari Mountain and Commando Brigade Commando brigades of Turkey Hakkâri Province Military units and formations established in 1993

Community relations

Monuments

See also

References

Reading