The First Army of the Republic of Turkey is one of the four field armies of the Turkish Army. Its headquarters is located at Selimiye Barracks in Istanbul. It guards the sensitive borders of Turkey with Greece and Bulgaria, including the straits Bosporus and Dardanelles. The First Army is stationed in East Thrace.
Turkish commanders visited the headquarters of the First Army, 18 January 1923. From left to right: Vehbi Bey (Kocagüney), Nurettin Pasha, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk), Kâzım Karabekir Pasha, Mareşal Fevzi Pasha (Çakmak), Asım Bey (Gündüz).
1st Army Command building
Commanders after the War of Independence: From left to right: Mirliva Âsım (Gündüz), Mirliva Ali Hikmet (Ayerdem), Ferik Ali Sait (Akbaytogan), Mirliva Şükrü Naili (Gökberk), Mirliva Kazım (İnanç), Ferik Fahrettin (Altay), Mirliva Kemalettin Sami (Gökçen), Mirliva Cafer Tayyar (Eğilmez), Mirliva İzzettin (Çalışlar)
I Corps Commander Colonel İzzettin during military inspection in Afyon Karacaören in the Summer of 1922
The Turkish Land Forces, or Turkish Army, 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 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.
Commanders of the Turkish Army during the Turkish War of Independence
Turkish soldiers in a trench waiting for the order to attack with fixed bayonets on their rifles
Selimiye Barracks (1828) in Istanbul is the headquarters of the First Army of the Turkish Land Forces.
TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK