.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Turkish. (November 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Turkish article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 482 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Turkish Wikipedia article at [[:tr:Özel Harp Dairesi]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template ((Translated|tr|Özel Harp Dairesi)) to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
Special Warfare Department
Active1952–1992
Country Turkey
BranchTurkish Army
TypeSpecial forces
RoleSpecial operations

The Special Warfare Department (SWD, Turkish: Özel Harp Dairesi (ÖHD)) was the special forces unit of the Turkish Army. Founded in 1952, it was formed out of the Army's Tactical Mobilisation Group (Turkish: Seferberlik Taktik Kurulu, STK).[1] It was disbanded in 1992, with responsibility for special operations then taken over by the new Special Forces Command.[2]

Former members include Korkut Eken.

History

The SWD were also funded and trained by the USA. During the Cold War the SWD cooperated closely with the CIA.[3]

The SWD encouraged and protected the Turkish Grey Wolves when they unleashed waves of bomb attacks and shootings that killed thousands of people, including students, lawyers, journalists, public officials, labor organizers, Kurds, and others, during the 1970s political violence.

The SWD established the TMT in Cyprus in 1958 to counter the EOKA and to force partition of the island, and supported it logistically and militarily. Arms were transferred from Turkey to support TMT, but when the arms transfer was blocked in international waters, the SWD contracted arms smugglers for the task.[4] The SWD was also involved in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, under the command of Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu. In 2010 Yirmibeşoğlu told television news channel Habertürk TV that Turkey burned a mosque during the Cypriot intercommunal violence in order to foster civil resistance against Greeks on the island, and that their tactics included false flag acts, engaging in acts of sabotage made to look as if they were carried out by the enemy.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Turkey's Killing Machine: The Contra-Guerrilla Force, Serdar Celik, in Kurdistan Report. No.17. February/March 1994
  2. ^ Uslu, Emrullah (July 10, 2008). "Tackling the PKK: New Directions for Turkey's Special Forces". Terrorism Monitor. Jamestown Foundation. VI (14): 9–11.
  3. ^ Mehtap Söyler (February 2015). The Turkish Deep State: State Consolidation, Civil-Military Relations and Democracy. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138782334.
  4. ^ Mehtap Söyler (February 2015). The Turkish Deep State: State Consolidation, Civil-Military Relations and Democracy. Routledge. p. 102. ISBN 978-1138782334.
  5. ^ Bloomberg, 24 September 2010, Turkey burned mosque during Cyprus conflict, general says


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