Unit Name: | First Army |
Dates: | November 1921 – June 1923 October 1923–present |
Country: | Turkey |
Size: | 120,000 men Field Army |
Command Structure: | Turkish Army |
Garrison: | Selimiye, Istanbul |
Patron: | Citizens of the Republic of Turkey |
Current Commander: | General Ali Sivri |
Commander2: | Brigadier General Faruk Metin |
Commander2 Label: | Chief of Staff |
Notable Commanders: | Ali İhsan Pasha (1921–1922) Nureddin Pasha (1922–1923) Kâzım Karabekir Pasha (1923–1924) Ali Sait Pasha (1924–1933) Fahrettin Altay (1933–1943) Cemil Cahit Toydemir (1943–1946) Salih Omurtak (1946) Nuri Yamut (1946–1949) |
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.
Ali İhsan Sabis is the first commander of the 1st Army, which has been operating since the Ottoman Empire. The 1st army depends on the Turkish Land Forces. The army is responsible for the Thrace region, the straits and the safety of Istanbul. Is commanded by a 4 star general. Under normal circumstances, the second duty of the Turkish Chief of General Staff is the next task. From 1983 to the present day, it was the first place where all the chiefs of the general staff served.
On 30 August 1922, the First Army was organized as follows:
First Army HQ (Commander: Mirliva Nureddin Pasha, Chief of Staff: Miralay Mehmet Emin Bey[1])
See main article: Turkish Army order of battle in 1941. In June 1941, the First Army was organized as follows:[2]
First Army HQ (Istanbul, Commander: Fahrettin Altay)
In the late 1980s it comprised four corps:[3]
As of November 2000, the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division Command (3. Mekanize Piyade Tümen Komutanlığı) existed.[4] Also reported during at ceremony in October 2005 at Edirne.[5]