General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Mehmet Yaşar Büyükanıt (1 September 1940 – 21 November 2019) was the 25th Chief of the Turkish General Staff of the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...

, from 28 August 2006 to 28 August 2008.

Biography

General Yaşar Büyükanıt was born in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

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 ...

, on 1 September 1940. He joined the

Erzincan Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The ...

Military High School in 1959. He graduated from the

Turkish Military Academy The Turkish Military Academy ( tr, Kara Harp Okulu) is a four-year co-educational military academy and part of the National Defence University. It is located in the center of Ankara, Turkey. Its mission is to develop cadets mentally and ph ...

in 1961 as an infantry officer. After graduating from the Infantry School in 1963, he served in different units 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 ...

as a

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

and commando company commander until 1970. Following his graduation from the

Army Staff College Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For exa ...

in 1972, he served as the Chief of Operations at the 6th Infantry Division, as an instructor at the Army Staff College, as the chief of the Intelligence Division Basic Intelligence Branch Forces and Systems Section at the

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander ...

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, as the section and then branch chief of the General-Admiral Branch at the

Turkish General Staff , image = , image_size = 160px , caption = Emblem of the General Staff , dates = 3 May 1920 – present , country = , allegiance ...

(TGS) Headquarters, as the commander of

Kuleli Military High School Kuleli Military High School was the oldest military high school in Turkey, located in Çengelköy, Istanbul, on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus strait. It was founded on September 21, 1845, by Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I. After the 2016 Tur ...

and of the Presidential Guard Regiment. After graduating from the

NATO Defence College NATO Defense College (NDC) is the international military college for North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy. History The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the ...

, he was promoted to the rank of

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 ...

in 1988. He served as the 2nd Armored Brigade Commander and then as the chief of Intelligence Department at AFSOUTH Headquarters in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Having been promoted to rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in 1992, General Büyükanıt served as the secretary general of the

Turkish General Staff , image = , image_size = 160px , caption = Emblem of the General Staff , dates = 3 May 1920 – present , country = , allegiance ...

and then as the superintendent of the Turkish Army Academy. He was promoted to the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in 1996 and served as the 7th Army Corps Commander until 1998, after which he became the chief of operations of the TGS. In 2000, he was promoted to the rank of

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

and served as the deputy chief of TGS until 2003. He later served as the commander of the First Army. General Büyükanıt was appointed as the commander of the

in 2004. He assumed the command of the

on 28 August 2006. Yaşar Büyükanıt was married to Filiz Büyükanıt, with whom he had a daughter, Bengü. She died on 18 November 2019. Yaşar Büyükanıt died in a hospital, where he was treated, on 21 November 2019, three days after his spouse's death. He was buried at

Karacaahmet Cemetery The Karacaahmet Cemetery ( tr, Karacaahmet Mezarlığı) is a 700-year-old historic cemetery, located in Üsküdar, the Asian side of Istanbul. Karacaahmet cemetery is the oldest and largest in Istanbul at , and the largest burial ground in Turkey ...

following a memorial ceremony held at the

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

of the First Army and the religious funeral service at

Big Selimiye Mosque Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * Big (film), ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television sh ...

. He was survived by daughter Bengü Büyükanıt Caymaz.

Political controversies

In a speech at the commencement of the academic year at the

on 2 October 2006, which was interpreted as a "harsh salvo" in Turkish media, Büyükanıt expressed support for secular values and outlined a hard stance against 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 ...

. Büyükanıt also asserted that certain EU and

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 ...

-allied countries have intentionally allowed terrorist organizations acting against Turkey, to base and run operations in their own territories, inconsistent with Turkey's relations and alliance with those countries. The Turkish military published a statement on 27 April 2007, two days before the second Republic Protest, as the 2007 presidential election was ongoing. This statement, later called the " E-memorandum", warned against Islamic fundamentalism, which was alleged to pose a threat to the secular Republican nature of the Turkish state. Büyükanıt, then Chief of General Staff, said that it was him who wrote this statement but he denied that it was a memorandum. Later, Büyükanıt held a 2.5 hours long secretive meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 5 May 2007 at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul.

Decorations

Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Honor Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Honor ( tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri Şeref Madalyası) is the highest medal that can be bestowed upon an individual by the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and was first created on July 27, 1967. Technical specificati ...

Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Distinguished Courage and Self-Sacrifice Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Distinguished Courage and Self-Sacrifice ( tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri Üstün Cesaret ve Feragat Madalyası) is one of the highest medals that can be bestowed upon an individual by the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) an ...

Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Distinguished Service Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Distinguished Service ( tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri Üstün Hizmet Madalyası) was first created on July 27, 1967 and took its current form on July 29, 1983. Technical specifications General Five large and five sma ...

* United States Armed Forces Legion of Merit * Italian Armed Forces Medal of Merit * Pakistani Medal of Nishan-e-Imtiaz

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buyukanit, Yasar 1940 births Military personnel from Istanbul Turkish Military Academy alumni Army War College (Turkey) alumni Turkish Army generals Deputy Chiefs of the Turkish General Staff Commanders of the Turkish Land Forces Chiefs of the Turkish General Staff Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of Nishan-e-Imtiaz 2019 deaths Burials at Karacaahmet Cemetery