Gendarmerie General Command

The Gendarmerie General Command (Turkish: Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı) 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.

Gendarmerie General Command
Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı
Emblem of the Gendarmerie General Command
Flag of the Gendarmerie General Command
Agency overview
Formed1956[1]
Preceding agencies
Employees170,295 sworn members + 80,000 to 90,000 Village guards.[2]
1,475 Armored and utility vehicles
59 Helicopters
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionTurkey
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersAnkara
Elected officer responsible
Agency executives
  • General Arif Çetin, Commander
  • Lt. General Ali Çardakçı, Deputy Commander
  • Lt. General Musa Çitil, Deputy Commander
Parent agencyMinistry of the Interior
Notables
Significant operations
Website
jandarma.gov.tr/

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
Main article: Ottoman Gendarmerie

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.

British officers in the Ottoman Gendarmerie, 1904

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.[3]

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.

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.

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.

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.

In 1974, Gendarmerie Commando Units and Gendarmerie Aviation Units took part in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

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.

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.

21st century

In 2016, the Gendarmerie General Command was affiliated to the Ministry of Interior.[4]

In 2018, Gendarmerie Special Operations participated in Operation Olive Branch, part of the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War.

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.

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.[5]

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 prisons and 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
Gendarmerie General Command Headquarters

Commands

Gendarmerie General Command Headquarters (Ankara)

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[10]
    • Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department (ASOCD)[11]

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.)[12]
  • 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.)[13]

The Gendarmerie Museum
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.[14]

Equipment

Handguns

Shotguns

Submachine guns

Assault and battle rifles

Machine guns

Sniper rifles

Rocket and grenade launchers

Mortars

Vehicles
ModelImageOriginTypeVariantNumberDetails
Armored personnel carriers
Sisu Nasu FinlandTracked All-Terrain VehicleNA-140 BT47
Kirpi TurkeyMRAPKirpi 4x4200Based on the Israeli Hatehof Navigator.[19]
Cobra TurkeyMRAPCobra I200Its 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.[20]
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 StatesArmored Personnel CarrierV-150S124Lacking a dedicated vehicle for its reconnaissance battalions, Turkey ordered 124 LAV-150 vehicles in 1992 from the Cadillac Corporation.[21]
Otokar ZPT TurkeyArmored Car250After 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/ GermanyArmored Personnel CarrierBTR-60PB323[22]Bought from ex-GDR stockpile after German unification.[23] All modernized.
Condor GermanyArmored Personnel CarrierCondor 125[22]
Dragoon United StatesArmored Personnel CarrierDragoon 30060
Concealed Armored D-Max  Turkey Armored Car Pick-Up x 4+1 passenger capacity
Helicopters
UH-60 Black Hawk United States/ TurkeyUtility helicopterS-70A27Avionics upgraded by ASELSAN.T-70 variant in use. 30 more on order
UH-1 Huey United States/ TurkeyUtility helicopterAB-20513Avionics upgraded by ASELSAN.
TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK TurkeyAttack helicopterT1296[24]12 more on order. Produced by TAI.
Mil Mi-17 Russia/ TurkeyUtility helicopterMi-17 IVA18Avionics upgraded by ASELSAN.
Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles
TAI Anka  Turkey UAV ANKA B 2 Elazig Gendarmerie UAV command[25][26]
Bayraktar Tactical TurkeyUAVTB212
Bayraktar Mini UAV  Turkey UAV C unknown

Insignia
NATO codeOF-10OF-9OF-8OF-7OF-6OF-5OF-4OF-3OF-2OF-1OF(D)Student officer
Turkey
(Edit)		 Various
[note 1]
Mareşal[note 2] Genelkurmay
Başkanlığı[note 3]		 Orgeneral Korgeneral Tümgeneral Tuğgeneral Albay Yarbay Binbaşı Yüzbaşı Üsteğmen Teğmen Asteğmen Harbiyeli
NATO CodeOR-9OR-8OR-7OR-6OR-5OR-4OR-3OR-2OR-1
Turkey
(Edit)		 No insignia
Astsubay Kıdemli
Başçavuş		 Astsubay
Başçavuş		 Astsubay Kıdemli
Üstçavuş		 Astsubay
Üstçavuş		 Astsubay Kıdemli
Çavuş		 Astsubay
Çavuş		 Astsubay
Astçavuş		 Uzman
Çavuş		 Çavuş Uzman
Onbaşı		 Onbaşı Er
  • OF3, OF2, & OR2 translate to "Head of 1000", "Head of 100", and "Head of 10" respectively.
gollark: What?
gollark: People running around with bits of paper.
gollark: Carrier pigeons.
gollark: Probably "comm laser" for large data like that.
gollark: That is how "coal" works.

See also

Notes
  1. Student officer insignia designates school grade rather than military seniority.
  2. Title; Honorary or posthumous rank; war time rank; ceremonial rank
  3. Chief of the Army General Staff. The background color may be different if he is not from air forces or navy. If he has been promoted to Mareşal on duty, he wears OF-10 insignia only.

References
  1. "Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı". Jandarma.gov.tr. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  2. "TSK Mevcut Personel Sayısını Açıkladı". Aktif Haber. 2 January 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  3. "THE SHORT HISTORY OF THE GENDARMERIE GENERAL COMMAND". Jandarma.tsk.tr. Archived from the original on June 25, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
  4. "Tarihçe". jandarma.gov.tr. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  5. "JANDARMA TEŞKİLAT, GÖREV VE YETKİLERİ KANUNU" (PDF). mevzuat.gov.tr.
  6. "Turkish police, gendarmerie forces join Afrin operation". aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  7. "Rescue teams find bodies of two missing hikers - Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  8. "The SAK team dives for waste this time National News". National News (in Turkish). 2019-10-31. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  9. "Turkish gendarmerie band welcomes arrival of winter with 'Game of Thrones' tribute". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  10. "photo of csi unit".
  11. "A ton of marijuana found afloat off Ayvalık coast - Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  12. "Jandarma Çevre Koruma Timleri". jandarma.gov.tr. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  13. Netherl, Royal; Marechaussee, s. "Turkish Gendarmerie". FIEP | International Association of Gendarmeries and Police Forces with Military Statues. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  14. "T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı". jandarma.gov.tr. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  15. "Jandarma Komutanligi". Turkish Gendarmerie. Archived from the original on 2014-12-14. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
  16. "'Hayata Dönüş' ilk kez gün ışığına çıktı". Radikal.com.tr. 7 July 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  17. "3 koldan milli tüfek teslimatı". aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  18. Archived September 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2016-06-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. "Otokar Cobra is a true all-terrain fighting machine". Fox News. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  21. "LAV-150". The actual source is by Army Guide _http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product3942.html_ but its been black listed for an unknown reason. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016. External link in |work= (help)
  22. Pike, John. "Jandarma". GlobalSecurity.org. Archived from the original on 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  23. Ron, Harold E. Stassen Chair of International Affairs James; Staff, Human Rights Watch Arms Project; Ron, James; Watch (Organization), Human Rights (1995). Weapons Transfers and Violations of the Laws of War in Turkey. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 978-1-56432-161-9.
  24. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2018-11-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. Kunt, Rasim Anıl (2017). "Elazığ Jandarma İHA Birlik K.lığında hizmet veren ANKA İHA'lar.En sağda SARPER SAR/ISAR/GMTI ve ASELFLIR 300T ile ANKA-B dikkat çekiyor.pic.twitter.com/5q5fzXbHPM". @rasimanilkunt (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  26. "Elazığ İnsansız Hava Aracı Anka Görevine Başladı-2 - Dailymotion Video". Dailymotion. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.