Turkey’s Growing Military Expeditionary Posture

Source:Jamestown Foundation Date:16May2020

Turkish Armed Forces are rapidly evolving from a HomelandDefense concept to a frowar posture. Military is als one of the few areas where Turkey demonstrated its innovation capacity. The result is an integrated military force capable of reaching  far beyond its borders to achieve strategic goals.

A glance at the Turkish Armed Forces’ recent combat record demonstrates that Turkey’s defense policy now extends well beyond its borders. Drones loitering in the Syrian airspace, navy frigates along the Libyan coast, Turkish military advisors in Tripoli alongside Government of National Accord (GNA) formations, mountain commando units operating in northern Iraq, and high-ranking Turkish officers in Qatar and Somalia are all pretty common to see now. Overall, the Turkish military is fast becoming an expeditionary actor in league with Ankara’s geopolitical worldview.

Turkey’s ambitious strategic posture is centered on three pivots. These are the naval transformation toward a blue-water force; the army’s expeditionary warfare concepts married to a growing tendency of resorting to proxy war agents in various battlegrounds from North Africa to the Levant; and expanding forward military bases in different parts of the Turkish zone d’influence.