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Turkey to Build New Crescent-Shaped Military Complex in Ankara

Selimiye Barracks
Selimiye Baracks, built in 1828, is the home of the soldiers belonging to the First Army of the Turkish Land Forces. On Monday, Turkish president Erdogan state that Turkey will build a new military complex for all the nation’s defense forces, much like the Pentagon in Washington. Credit: Allie Caulfield/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/wm_archiv/2719191533/CC BY 2.0

Turkey will build new complex for all its military forces, combining them all in a Pentagon-like headquarters in the capital city of Ankara, Turkish President Erdogan stated on Monday.

The massive military headquarters will be the new home of the Defense Ministry, the chief of its General Staff and all its various other commands in an effort to better coordinate the country’s defense, according to the President.

“In line with changing and developing defense needs, we are obliged to collect all the different institutions under the same roof and work with them in coordination. There is a need for a combined center. This center will issue a very different signal regarding the defense and investments,” Erdoğan told this assembled at the groundbreaking ceremony for the massive military complex in a suburb of Ankara on Monday.

Turkey’s military complex will combine all forces in new, state of the art building

The Defense Ministry, the chief of General Staff and the headquarters of the land, air and naval forces are currently located in the area of Kızılay in Ankara. Stating that the buildings they currently use were built between the 1930s and 1960s, the Turkish president said that “current security conditions” call for better coordination between the defense institutions, according to Hurriyet.

Erdogan stated in his remarks that “Our objective is to inaugurate this complex on the centennial of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey Oct. 29, 2023,” adding that state of the art technology will be employed in the construction of this new, environmentally “green” building.

The 900,000 square meters of the new headquarters will house the offices of approximately 15,000 personnel. The enormous crescent-shaped building will be constructed on property measuring 12.6 million square meters, according to Erdogan.

Erdogan, who has been accused by Greece, Cyprus and many other nations in recent years of repeated provocations in the area, stated the new building is indicative of Turkey’s increasing power in the region and its determination not to allow those who want to disintegrate the country to do so.

He recounted for the Turkish press how he said his country’s efforts in the fight against terrorism had been “crippled” by many countries, including the United States, which he said had refused to give Turkey the military radios it had requested.

“Those who have left Turkey tying its hands against a cheap terror organization will pay the price before the history,” Erdogan declared, adding “Thanks to the government’s commitment to end the foreign dependency on the defense sector, Turkey is now able to deter all the enemies.”

The Turkish president added that the new consolidation of the country’s military forces came about partially as the result of the expelling of 21,000 military officers and men after the mid-2016 coup attempt.

Erdogan charged that FETÖ’s attempted coup activated secret members within the Turkish army; after the coup was put down and its supposed instigators summarily arrested, the military has been reorganized, according to the President.

In remarks during graduation ceremonies at the Army War College in Ankara, Erdoğan said no other country on the globe had been subjected to such a shock as the attempted coup on July 15, 2016 and then had gone on to “introduce such a successful new system in such a short time,” according to Hurriyet.

The top-down reorganization of the country’s armed forces after the coup even included its educational institutions, Erdoğan said.

He went on to state that the War College had educated a total of 16,448 students and trainees during the academic year of 2020-2021. A total of 15,501 were from Turkey; there were 947 foreign students coming from 20 other countries as well.

Now, Erdogan stated, the number of graduates produced by the Turkish War College since that time has reached 23,433, adding: “In other words, the losses of the July 15 coup have been more than compensated for in terms of numbers.”

Erdoğan noted that this year, a total of 1,452 students, including 1,351 Turks and 101 foreigners, graduated from all the military academies that are part of the War College.

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