Turkish Land Forces in the context of "United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus"

⭐ In the context of the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus, what significant action did the Turkish Land Forces undertake to solidify control of the northern section after the 1974 ceasefire?

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⭐ Core Definition: Turkish Land Forces

The Turkish Land Forces (Turkish: Türk Kara Kuvvetleri) is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on 8 November 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the foundation of the army include suppression of rebellions in Southeast Anatolia and East Anatolia from the 1920s to the present day, combat in the Korean War, the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the current Turkish involvement in the Syrian civil war, as well as its NATO alliance against the USSR during the Cold War. The army holds the preeminent place within the armed forces. It is customary for the Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces to have been the Commander of the Turkish Land Forces prior to his appointment as Turkey's senior ranking officer.

Alongside the other two armed services, the Turkish Army has frequently intervened in Turkish politics, a custom that is now regulated to an extent by the reform of the National Security Council. It assumed power for several periods in the latter half of the 20th century. It carried out coups d'état in 1960, 1971, and 1980. Most recently, it maneuvered the removal of an Islamic-oriented prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, in 1997.

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👉 Turkish Land Forces in the context of United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus

The United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus is a demilitarized zone, patrolled by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), that was established on 4 March 1964. It was extended on 9 August after the Battle of Tillyria and extended again in 1974 after the ceasefire of 16 August 1974, following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the de facto partition of the island into the area controlled by the Republic of Cyprus (excluding the British Sovereign Base Areas) and the largely unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the north. The zone, also known as the Green Line (Greek: Πράσινη Γραμμή, Prasini Grammi; Turkish: Yeşil Hat), stretches for 180 kilometres (112 miles) from Paralimni in the east to Kato Pyrgos in the west, where a separate section surrounds Kokkina.

The dividing line is also referred to as the Attila Line, named after Turkey's 1974 military invasion, codenamed Operation Attila. The Turkish army has built a barrier on the zone's northern side, consisting mainly of barbed-wire fencing, concrete wall segments, watchtowers, anti-tank ditches, and minefields. The zone cuts through the centre of Nicosia, separating the city into southern and northern sections. In total, it spans an area of 346 square kilometres (134 sq mi), varying in width from less than 20 metres (66 ft) to more than 7 kilometres (4.3 mi). After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Nicosia remains the last divided capital in Europe. Some 10,000 people live in several villages and work on farms located within the zone; the village of Pyla is famous for being one of the few remaining villages in Cyprus where Greek and Turkish Cypriots still live side by side. Other villages are Deneia, Athienou, and Troulloi. Some areas are untouched by human interference and have remained a safe haven for flora and fauna.

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Turkish Land Forces in the context of Zilan Massacre

The Zilan massacre was the massacre of thousands of Kurdish civilians by the Turkish Land Forces in the Zilan Valley of Van Province on 12/13 July 1930, during the Ararat rebellion in Ağrı Province.

The massacre took place to the north of the town of Erciş on Lake Van. It was carried out by the IX Corps of the Third Army under the command of Ferik (Lieutenant General) Salih Omurtak. The number of people killed in the massacre ranges from 4,500 women and elderly to 15,000 rebels per Cumhuriyet.

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Turkish Land Forces in the context of Tactical Mobilisation Group

The Tactical Mobilisation Group (TMG, Turkish: Seferberlik Taktik Kurulu) was the special operations unit of the Turkish Army. It was founded in 1952 as part of NATO's efforts to establish a Counter-Guerrilla force in Turkey as the Turkish branch of Operation Gladio. It was disbanded in 1965, with special operations taken over by the new Special Warfare Department (Turkish: Özel Harp Dairesi).

In the 2000s it was revealed that the 1955 Istanbul pogrom was engineered by the TMG. Turkish Land Forces General Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu, the right-hand man of General Kemal Yamak who organised the Counter-Guerrilla through the Tactical Mobilization Group, proudly reminisced about his involvement in the riots, calling the TMG "a magnificent organization".

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Turkish Land Forces in the context of IX Corps (Turkey)

The 9th Corps, Turkish Land Forces, is a field corps. The corps headquarters is located in Erzurum, and the corps is part of the Third Army (Turkey). It is deployed along Turkey's eastern boundary.

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Turkish Land Forces in the context of Chief of the Turkish General Staff

The Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces (Turkish: Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri Genelkurmay Başkanı) is the chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces (Turkish: Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri). He is appointed by the President of Turkey, who is the commander-in-chief. The position dates to the period of the Government of the Grand National Assembly and the Turkish War of Independence. The post has its own rank insignia, which is the OF-9 (full General or Admiral of the Turkish Armed Forces) rank of the Chief of Staff's personal service branch surrounded by laurel wreaths. In practice, the position has always been held by a Turkish Land Forces officer.

The current Chief of the General Staff is General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, since 5 August 2025.

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Turkish Land Forces in the context of İsmet İnönü

Mustafa İsmet İnönü (24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish politician and military officer who served as the president of Turkey from 1938 to 1950, and as its prime minister three times: from 1923 to 1924, 1925 to 1937, and 1961 to 1965.

İnönü is acknowledged by many as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's right-hand man, with their friendship going back to the Caucasus campaign. In the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, he served as the first chief of the General Staff from 1922 to 1924 for the regular Turkish army, during which he commanded forces during the First and Second Battles of İnönü. Atatürk bestowed İsmet with the surname İnönü, the site of the battles, when the 1934 Surname Law was adopted. He served as the chief negotiator for the Ankara government, first as an army general following the defeat of invading forces during the Armistice of Mudanya talks, later as Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Lausanne Conferences (1922–1923). He secured recognition of the Turkish victory by the Allies and replacing the imposed Treaty of Sèvres with the Treaty of Lausanne. As his prime minister for most of his presidency, İnönü executed many of Atatürk's modernizing and nationalist reforms. Some claim that, İnönü gave the orders to carry out the Zilan massacre.

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Turkish Land Forces in the context of 1920 Greek parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on Sunday, 14 November 1920, or 1 November 1920 old style. They were possibly the most crucial elections in the modern history of Greece, influencing not only the few years afterwards, including the Greek defeat by Kemal Atatürk's reformed Turkish Land Forces in 1922, but setting the stage for Greece's political landscape for most of the rest of the 20th century. It had been nearly five years since the last elections, a period during which all democratic procedures were suspended due to the National Schism, when Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos announced that elections would take place on 25 October. However, after the unexpected death of King Alexander, who had assumed the throne after the exile of his father, King Constantine I, the elections were postponed until 14 November.

Venizelos believed a victory for his Liberal Party was all but certain because of his diplomatic and military successes against the Ottoman Empire. However, the results were a disaster for him. Although his Liberal Party received just over 50% of the vote, it won only 118 of the 369 seats in the Hellenic Parliament, with the United Opposition – an alliance of the People's Party, Conservative Party, Reform Party and others – winning 251 of the 369 seats. Venizelos also failed to win a seat. Humiliated and disappointed by the outcome of the election, Venizelos left the country for France, leaving his Liberal Party to the administration of Panagiotis Dagklis.

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