Special Warfare Department

The Special Warfare Department (SWD, Turkish: Özel Harp Dairesi (ÖHD)) was the special forces unit of the Turkish Army. Founded in 1965, it was formed out of the Army's Tactical Mobilisation Group (Turkish: Seferberlik Taktik Kurulu, STK).[1] It was disbanded in 1992, with responsibility for special operations then taken over by the new Special Forces Command.[2]

Special Warfare Department
Active1965–1992
Country Turkey
BranchTurkish Army
TypeSpecial forces
RoleSpecial operations

Former members include Korkut Eken.

History

The SWD were also funded and trained by the USA. During the Cold War the SWD cooperated closely with the CIA.[3]

The SWD encouraged and protected the Turkish Grey Wolves when they unleashed waves of bomb attacks and shootings that killed thousands of people, including students, lawyers, journalists, public officials, labor organizers, Kurds, and others, during the 1970s political violence.

The SWD established the TMT in Cyprus in 1958 to counter the EOKA and to force partition of the island, and supported it logistically and militarily. Arms were transferred from Turkey to support TMT, but when the arms transfer was blocked in international waters, the SWD contracted arms smugglers for the task.[4] The SWD was also involved in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, under the command of Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu. In 2010 Yirmibeşoğlu told television news channel Habertürk TV that Turkey burned a mosque during the Cypriot intercommunal violence in order to foster civil resistance against Greeks on the island, and that their tactics included false flag acts, engaging in acts of sabotage made to look as if they were carried out by the enemy.[5]

See also

References
  1. Turkey's Killing Machine: The Contra-Guerrilla Force, Serdar Celik, in Kurdistan Report. No.17. February/March 1994
  2. Uslu, Emrullah (July 10, 2008). "Tackling the PKK: New Directions for Turkey's Special Forces". Terrorism Monitor. Jamestown Foundation. VI (14): 9–11.
  3. Mehtap Söyler (February 2015). The Turkish Deep State: State Consolidation, Civil-Military Relations and Democracy. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138782334.
  4. Mehtap Söyler (February 2015). The Turkish Deep State: State Consolidation, Civil-Military Relations and Democracy. Routledge. p. 102. ISBN 978-1138782334.
  5. Bloomberg, 24 September 2010, Turkey burned mosque during Cyprus conflict, general says


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