Military ranks of Turkey
The Military ranks of Turkey are the military insignia used by the Turkish Armed Forces.
Turkish Land Forces
Officer ranks
NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF(D) | Student officer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turkish Land Forces[1] |
Various [lower-alpha 1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mareşal | Genelkurmay başkanı | Orgeneral | Korgeneral | Tümgeneral | Tuğgeneral | Albay | Yarbay | Binbaşı | Yüzbaşı | Üsteğmen | Teğmen | Asteğmen | Harbiyeli | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Literal translation | Marshal | Chief of the General Staff | Army general | Corps general | Divisional general | Brigade general | Chief of a regiment | Leader of a thousand | Leader of a hundred | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. equivalent[2] | General of the Army | General | Lieutenant general | Major general | Brigadier general | Colonel | Lieutenant colonel | Major | Captain | First lieutenant | Second lieutenant | Cadet / Officer candidate |
Other ranks
NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turkish Land Forces[1] |
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. equivalent[3] | Command sergeant major | Master sergeant | Sergeant first class | Staff sergeant | Sergeant | Corporal | Private | Private |
Turkish Air Forces
Officer ranks
NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF(D) | Student officer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turkish Air Force[4] |
Various [lower-alpha 1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mareşal | Genelkurmay başkanlığı | Orgeneral | Korgeneral | Tümgeneral | Tuğgeneral | Albay | Yarbay | Binbaşı | Yüzbaşı | Üsteğmen | Teğmen | Asteğmen | Harbiyeli | |||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. equivalent[2] | General of the Air Force | General | Lieutenant general | Major general | Brigadier general | Colonel | Lieutenant colonel | Major | Captain | First lieutenant | Second lieutenant | Cadet / Officer trainee |
Other ranks
NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turkish Air Force[4] |
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. equivalent[3] | Chief master sergeant | Senior master sergeant | Master sergeant | Technical sergeant | Staff sergeant | Senior airman/ Sergeant |
Airman first class | Airman basic |
Turkish Naval Forces
Officer ranks
NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF(D) | Student officer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turkish Naval Forces |
Various [lower-alpha 1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Büyük amiral | Genelkurmay başkanlığı | Oramiral | Koramiral | Tümamiral | Tuğamiral | Albay | Yarbay | Binbaşı | Yüzbaşı | Üsteğmen | Teğmen | Asteğmen | Bahriyeli | |||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. equivalent[2] | Fleet admiral | Admiral | Vice admiral | Rear admiral | Rear admiral (lower half) |
Captain | Commander | Lieutenant commander | Lieutenant | Lieutenant (junior grade) |
Ensign | Midshipman / officer candidate |
Note : Commodores in the Turkish navy are not given special ranks or insignia. In the Turkish navy a commodore is not a rank but a position (usually group commander). Commodores almost always have the rank of Captain (Albay), but can fly their special pennants and wear special ribbons.[6]
- Tuğamiral (Rear Admiral/Lower Half) is the lowest admiral's rank. Their shoulderboards are covered in gold lace, and have a silver garland with swords crossed in the middle (General's mark) and a silver five pointed star above that. All admirals also wear two rows of leaves on their caps.
- Tümamiral (Rear Admiral/Upper Half) wears the same shoulderboards as Tuğamiral s, but with two silver stars.
- Koramiral (Vice Admiral): There are usually six Koramiral s in the whole navy. Koramiral s wear three silver stars on the usual shoulder boards.
- Oramiral (Admiral): There are two oramirals, one of them is the Commander of the Naval Forces (Deniz Kuvvetleri Komutanı ), while the other is Commander of the Turkish Fleet (Donanma Komutanı). Oramiral s wear shoulder boards with four silver stars, and three normal stripes (the top one with the curl) above the broad stripe.
- Genelkurmay Başkanı (Chief of the Turkish General Staff) assumes command of the Turkish Armed Forces, and although he is commonly appointed from the Turkish Army, he is entitled to wear all uniforms in the Turkish Armed Forces, including the Navy's. When he wears the Navy's uniform, he wears the oramiral's shoulder boards with specially embroidered lace as the base, and he wears the oramiral's sleeve stripes with the broad stripe also embroidered and decorated with leaves.
- Büyük Amiral (Admiral of the Fleet): This is a wartime-only rank and has never been awarded to any member of the Turkish Navy. Its army equivalent, Mareşal (Field Marshal), has had only two bearers in the republic's history: Marshal Fevzi Çakmak and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk himself. A Büyük Amiral would wear shoulder boards with special gold handwork on red velvet, decorated with golden leaves, and with a general's garland on top of that.
Rank pennants and flags (ensigns)
Pennants are only flown for officers who assume command of an independent unit. Staff officers who work in headquarters do not fly pennants.
- Flandra (Masthead Pennant) : The Flandra is flown when the ship's commanding officer boards the ship. It is quite like a very long red stripe with a crescent moon and star close to the mast.
- Group Commander : For group commanders, a red triangular pennant with one bomb (twenty pointed white star) is flown.
- Regiment Commanders : For regiment commanders, a square red flag with an anchor in the middle is flown.
- Commodores : A swallow-tailed red pennant with two bombs (one on the upper left corner, the other one below that) is flown.
- Rear Admiral (Lower half)
- Rear Admiral (Upper half)
- Vice Admiral
- Admiral
- Commander of the Naval Forces
- Admiral of the Fleet
Other ranks
NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turkish Naval Forces |
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. equivalent[3] | Master chief petty officer | Senior chief petty officer | Chief petty officer | Petty officer first class | Petty officer second class | Petty officer third class | Seaman recruit |
Rates (insignia of category)
There are several major categories in the Navy for different professions. Insignia of category are worn right above the circle in the topmost stripe, both on the sleeve and the shoulder board. It is a small round patch with gold-coloured needlework. Line officers and admirals do not wear these patches. (Admirals with special circumstances (doctors and engineers) may wear them on their sleeves, but not shoulders)
- Naval Infantry (Marines) : In the Turkish armed forces, marines are subordinates to the navy and wear the Navy's uniforms. Their patch consists of an anchor and two rifles crossing it.
- Combat Engineer (Civil Engineer) : A combat engineer wears a patch with the portrayal of what seems to be a fortress, beyond the sea.
- Supply : Supply officers wear a branch with three gold-coloured leaves.
- Hydrography/Oceanography : These officers wear a patch which portrays a lighthouse, with two beams of light heading away from each other.
- Medical Corps (Medical Doctors) : Doctors bear the Staff of Asclepius, a staff with a single snake entangled around it.
- Pharmacists : Pharmacists wear the image of a cup, with a snake around it and a branch surrounding both.
- Dentists : Dentists wear a staff with a branch around it.
- Engineers : An engineer wears the image of a protractor and a pair of compasses beneath that.
- Prosecutors/Judges : Officers of this category wear a patch that includes a book laying open and a pair of scales behind that.
- Legal : Officers Officers of this category wear a patch that includes a book laying open and a pair of ''H'' above it.
- Instructors : Instructors wear a patch with a book laying open with a torch behind.
- Band Musician : A band musician wears a patch with a musical harp.
- Nurse : Officers from the Nurses’ Corps wear a single golden crescent with the corners pointed upwards.
- Intelligence : The Intelligence patch consists of a golden circle with a cross in between; embroidered with arrows at each point the cross cuts the circle. Portrayed as if this Wheel was turning around its own axis.
- Staff Officers : Staff officers, are the officers who assume command or important positions in other headquarters, with a specialty in military personnel and supplies management. They wear a single golden five-point star as their patch of category.
Gendarmerie General Command
- Officer ranks
NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF(D) | Student officer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turkish Gendarmerie |
Various [lower-alpha 1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Orgeneral | Korgeneral | Tümgeneral | Tuğgeneral | Albay | Yarbay | Binbaşı | Yüzbaşı | Üsteğmen | Teğmen | Asteğmen | Akademili |
- Other ranks
NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turkish Gendarmerie[7][8] |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Astsubay kıdemli başçavuş | Astsubay başçavuş | Astsubay kıdemli üstçavuş | Astsubay üstçavuş | Astsubay kıdemli çavuş | Astsubay çavuş | Uzman onbaşı |
Historic ranks
Rank group | General / flag officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | Officer cadet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turkish Land Forces (1933–1947)[9] |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mareşal | Orgeneral | Korgeneral | Tümgeneral | Tuğgeneral | Albay | Yarbay | Binbaşı | Yüzbaşı | Üsteğmen | Teğmen | Asteğmen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turkish Land Forces (1947–1956)[10] |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mareşal | Orgeneral | Korgeneral | Tümgeneral | Tuğgeneral | Albay | Yarbay | Binbaşı | Yüzbaşı | Üsteğmen | Teğmen | Yedek Subay Asteğmen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turkish Land Forces (1956–1964)[11] |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mareşal | Orgeneral | Korgeneral | Tümgeneral | Tuğgeneral | Albay | Yarbay | Binbaşı | Yüzbaşı | Üsteğmen | Teğmen | Asteğmen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF(D) | Student officer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
- Student officer insignia designates school grade rather than military seniority.
References
- "Kara Kuvvetleri Komutanlığı Rütbe ve İşaretleri". Official army (in Turkish). Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- Tartter 1996, p. 346.
- Tartter 1996, p. 347.
- "Rütbeleri". Official air force (in Turkish). Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- "Deniz Kuvvetleri Komutanlığı • Anasayfa".
- "Uzman Jandarma Kanunu" (PDF) (in Turkish). mevzuat.gov.tr. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- "Uzman Erbaş Kanunu" (PDF) (in Turkish). mevzuat.gov.tr. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- Türker 2012, p. 80.
- Türker 2012, p. 82.
- Türker 2012, p. 83.
Bibliography
- Türker, Kadir (January 2012). "Tarihten Günümüze Türk Ordusunda Kullanılan Rütbe Sembolleri" [Rank Symbols Used in the Turkish Army from History to Today] (PDF). Silahlý Kuvvetler Dergisi (in Turkish). Turkish Military Academy. 411: 69–85. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- Tartter, Jean R. (1996). "National Security". In Metz, Helen Chapin (ed.). Turkey: a country study. Area Handbook (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. LCCN 95049612. Retrieved 19 December 2022.