Turks vs. Kurds, forces in comparison

(To Tiziano Ciocchetti)
18/10/19

The media has been flooding us for days with images of Ankara's military forces crossing the Syrian border to attack Kurdish terrorists (according to Erdoğan). Furthermore, the envoys remind us that the Turkish one is the second largest among the armies of NATO, as well as among the most armed.

Indeed, Ankara can deploy nearly half a million soldiers (about 400.000 are conscripts), to which must be added 180.000 reservists.

The Army is the 70% of the entire Turkish defense system, with a total force of military 320.000, equipped with over 2.700 tanks (LEOPARD 2A4, M60), 7.600 transport and combat vehicles, 820 missile systems.

The headquarters of the southern land forces is located in Izmir. From the 2004, the same base also hosts the Allied Component Command of NATO, previously located in Naples. Izmir is also the headquarters of the Command of the Turkish Peace Force for the Aegean, which has responsibility for the Turkish area of ​​Cyprus.

It is structured in 9 Army Corps, with 11 mechanized divisions, 9 armored brigades, 5 brigades of paratroopers, 5 brigades of special forces, 2 artillery brigades and one of helicopters.

The Navy has 190 naval units and 50 aircraft, and is central to Ankara's Mediterranean strategy. The main vessel is made up of 16 frgate class Gabya, specialized in air defense; from 4 frigates class Barbaros (designed in Germany and with a displacement equal to 3.600 t); 4 frigates class Yavuz with a displacement of 3.000 t.

Submarines are 13. The classes Ablay, Preveze, Gur, derived from the German U-209 class, with a displacement of 1.600 t, are able to launch anti-ship missiles.

the Air Force deploys about 1.100 various types of aircraft, of which F-240C / D fighter bombers 16; while tactical / strategic transport aircraft are 82: 19 C-130B / E, 8 A-400M, 41 CN-235, 14 C-160.

The satellites Gokturk-1 e 2, of national manufacture, the Turkish secret service is under resolution and all managed by MIT (Milli Istihbarat Teşkilati).

The Kurdish peshmerga, warriors of Iranian ethnicity, are excellent fighters. Heirs of the ferocious Saladin, who was a Kurd born in Tikrit, like Saddam Hussein.

The Kurdish forces are divided into 36 brigades, controlled by the historical parties of the Kurdish area and by the Ministry for Peshmerga Affairs of the autonomous Kurdish area. Mainly it is light infantry, although there are old T-54 and T-62 former Soviet tanks (about 200 means).

However, without external help, it is unlikely they will stem the Turkish attack, which aims to occupy Kobane and acquire as much Syrian territory as possible, thereby shattering the dream of a Kurdish nation.

Photo: Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri