List of wars involving Turkey

This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Turkey and includes conflicts such as coups, insurgencies, offensives, border and international disputes since the Turkish War of Independence in 1919. For wars before 1919, involving the Ottoman Empire, see List of wars involving the Ottoman Empire.

  Turkish victory
  Another result *
  Turkish defeat
  Ongoing conflict

*e.g. a treaty or peace without a clear result, status quo ante bellum, result of civil or internal conflict, result unknown or indecisive, inconclusive

Wars

Conflict Turkey
and allies
Opponent(s) Results Leaders
President(s) Prime Minister(s) / Vice President(s)
War of Independence
(1919–1923)
Turkish Nationalists:
Ankara Government
(1919–1920; 1920–1923)
Also:
Allied powers:
 Greece
 France
(until 1921)[a]
 Armenia
(in 1920)
Istanbul Government[c]
(in 1920)
 Georgia
(in 1921)
Victory[12] Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Fevzi Çakmak

Rauf Orbay

Fethi Okyar

Sheikh Said rebellion
(1925)
Turkey Azadî Victory
  • Revolt suppressed
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk İsmet İnönü
Ararat rebellion
(1927–1930)
Turkey Republic of Ararat Victory
  • Revolt suppressed
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk İsmet İnönü
Dersim massacre
(1937–1938)
Turkey Kurdish Alevi rebels Victory
  • Revolt suppressed
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk İsmet İnönü

Celâl Bayar

World War II
(1939–1945)
United States
Soviet Union
United Kingdom
 China
France
Poland
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
 India
 South Africa
 Yugoslavia
 Greece
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg
 Czechoslovakia
Brazil
Mexico
Chile
Bolivia
Colombia
Ecuador
Paraguay
Peru
Venezuela
Uruguay
Argentina
Turkey
 Germany
 Japan
 Italy
 Hungary
 Romania
 Bulgaria
Croatia
Slovakia
 Finland
 Thailand
 Manchukuo
 Mengjiang
Victory İsmet İnönü Şükrü Saracoğlu
Korean War
(1950–1953)
South Korea
North Korea
China
Soviet Union
Stalemate Celâl Bayar Adnan Menderes
Turkish invasion of Cyprus
(1974)
Turkey
TMT
Cyprus
Greece
Victory
  • Turkish overall control of 36.2% of Cyprus
Fahri Korutürk Bülent Ecevit
Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency (1978–2025)

TAK

2025 Turkey–PKK peace process
  • Arrest of Abdullah Öcalan on February 15, 1999, in Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Attempted peace process initiated in 2012, failed in 2015.[28][29][30][31]
  • A second peace process initiated in 2024. Öcalan calls on PKK to disarm and dissolve on February 27, 2025, PKK declares unilateral ceasefire with Turkey and beginning of dissolution process on 1 March.[32]
  • PKK convenes congress between 5-7 May, declares dissolution and end of conflict on 12 May 2025.[33][34]
Fahri Korutürk

Kenan Evren

Turgut Özal

Süleyman Demirel

Ahmet Necdet Sezer

Abdullah Gül

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Bülent Ecevit

Süleyman Demirel

Bülend Ulusu

Turgut Özal

Yıldırım Akbulut

Mesut Yılmaz

Tansu Çiller

Necmettin Erbakan

Abdullah Gül

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Ahmet Davutoğlu

Binali Yıldırım

Fuat Oktay

Cevdet Yılmaz

Gulf War
(1990–1991)
Kuwait
United States
United Kingdom
Saudi Arabia
Egypt
France

Iraq Victory Turgut Özal Yıldırım Akbulut
Bosnian War
(1995)
(Participant in NATO Operation Deliberate Force)
Republika Srpska Victory[39] Süleyman Demirel Tansu Çiller
Iraqi Kurdish Civil War
(1997)
KDP
Turkey
PUK
PKK
Ceasefire
  • Peace treaty between the KDP and the PUK
Süleyman Demirel Necmettin Erbakan

Mesut Yılmaz

Kosovo War
(1998–1999)
(Participant in NATO Operation Allied Force)
UÇK
FR Yugoslavia Victory
  • Turkey committed 11 F-16 aircraft to the NATO force, and US use of air bases[41]
  • Kumanovo Treaty
Süleyman Demirel Mesut Yılmaz

Bülent Ecevit

War in Afghanistan
(2001–2021)
Afghanistan
Taliban Taliban victory / Turkish-allied defeat
  • Fall of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 2001
  • International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) concluded their mission in 2014[42]
  • Resolute Support Mission (RSM) was a non-combat mission and terminated in 2021 with the US-led withdrawal[43]
  • Taliban control over Afghanistan increases compared to pre-intervention territory
  • Return of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 2021
Ahmet Necdet Sezer

Abdullah Gül

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Bülent Ecevit

Abdullah Gül

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Ahmet Davutoğlu

Binali Yıldırım

Fuat Oktay

Boko Haram insurgency
(2009–present)
Multinational Joint Task Force

Local militias and vigilantes

  • CJTF, BOYES (Nigeria)
  • Comités de vigilance (Chad, Cameroon)
  • Dan banga (Niger)

Foreign mercenaries

Turkey

Boko Haram (partially aligned with ISIL from 2015)[e]
  • Shekau faction
  • Several minor factions

ISWAP (originally Barnawi faction of Boko Haram; from 2016)
Ansaru[f]

Ongoing Abdullah Gül

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Ahmet Davutoğlu

Binali Yıldırım

Fuat Oktay

Cevdet Yılmaz

First Libyan Civil War
(2011)
(Assisted NATO military intervention)
NTC
Qatar
Libya Victory
  • Turkey helped enforce the no-fly zone and naval blockade[44]
  • The NTC assumed interim control of Libya
Abdullah Gül Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Syrian Revolution
(2011–2024)
Syria

Turkey
Qatar
Saudi Arabia (2012-2017, 2024)

Ba'athist Syria
Russia[45]
Iran[46]
Hezbollah
Victory Abdullah Gül

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Ahmet Davutoğlu

Binali Yıldırım

Fuat Oktay

Cevdet Yılmaz

Turkish involvement in the Syrian civil war
(2011–2025)
Turkey
Syrian Opposition
Syrian Democratic Forces
IFB
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Ba'athist Syria
Russia[47]
Iran[48]
Libyan National Army
Hezbollah
Ongoing Abdullah Gül

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Ahmet Davutoğlu

Binali Yıldırım

Fuat Oktay

Cevdet Yılmaz

Mali War
(2012–present)
Government of Mali

France (2013–2022)
Turkey (2014–present)
Germany (2017–present)


MINUSMA (2013–2023)


Non-state combatants:
Ganda Iso
MAA-Loyaliste
MSA (from 2016)
GATIA (from 2014)
Wagner Group (from 2021)[g]


Coordination of Azawad Movements
(CMA)

Al-Qaeda

Nigerian jihadist volunteers (2012–13)


Islamic State

Ongoing
  • Turkish intervention intensifies in 2022
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Fuat Oktay

Cevdet Yılmaz

American-led intervention in Iraq
(2014–2017)
Iraq
Iraqi Kurdistan
ISIS Victory
  • Turkish intervention in July 2015
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ahmet Davutoğlu

Binali Yıldırım

Turkish military intervention in the Second Libyan Civil War
(2020)
Turkey
Government of National Accord
Syrian Interim Government
House of Representatives Victory
  • Turkey and its proxies in Libya pushed the LNA out of Tripoli
  • GNA repelled the LNA offensive and advanced towards Sirte and Western Libya
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Fuat Oktay

Cevdet Yılmaz

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Treaty of Ankara was signed in 1921 and the Franco-Turkish War thus ended. The French troops remained in Constantinople with the other Allied troops.
  2. ^ The United Kingdom occupied Constantinople, then fought directly against Turkish irregular forces in the Greek Summer Offensive with the Greek troops. However, after this the United Kingdom would not take part in any more major fighting.[6][7][8][9] Moreover, the British troops occupied several towns in Turkey such as Mudanya.[10] Naval landing forces had tried to capture Mudanya as early as 25 June 1920, but stubborn Turkish resistance inflicted casualties on British forces and forced them to withdraw. There were many instances of successful delaying operations of small Turkish irregular forces against numerical superior enemy troops.[11] The United Kingdom, which also fought diplomatically against the Turkish National Movement, came to the brink of a great war in September 1922 (Chanak Crisis).
  3. ^ The Ottoman controlled Kuva-yi Inzibatiye ("Caliphate Army") fought the Turkish revolutionaries during the Greek Summer Offensive and the Ottoman government in Constantinople supported other revolts (e.g. Anzavur).
  4. ^ Merged with the Revolutionary Communard Party (DKP) in 2017.
  5. ^ Following Mohammed Yusuf's death, Boko Haram splintered into numerous factions which no longer operated under a unified leadership. Though Abubakar Shekau eventually became the preeminent commander of the movement, he never really controlled all Boko Haram groups. Instead, the factions were loosely allied, but also occasionally clashed with each other. This situation changed in 2015 when Shekau pledged allegiance to ISIL. The leadership of ISIL eventually decided to replace Shekau as a local commander with Abu Mus'ab al-Barnawi, whereupon the movement split completely. Shekau no longer recognized the authority of ISIL's central command, and his loyalists started to openly fight the followers of al-Barnawi. Regardless, Shekau did never officially renounce his pledge of allegiance to ISIL as a whole; his forces are thus occasionally regarded as "second branch of ISWAP". Overall, the relation of Shekau with ISIL remains confused and ambiguous.
  6. ^ The exact origin of Ansaru is unclear, but it had already existed as Boko Haram faction before officially announcing its foundation as separate group on 1 January 2012. The group has no known military presence in Nigeria since 2015, but several of its members appear to be still active.
  7. ^ The participation of the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, has been denied by both Russia and Mali, which insist Russia is only sending military advisors.

References

  1. ^ Gingeras 2022, pp. 204–206.
  2. ^ a b c d Western Society for French History. Meeting: Proceedings of the ... Annual Meeting of the Western Society for French History, New Mexico State University Press, 1996, sayfa 206 Archived 9 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ Briton Cooper Busch: Mudros to Lausanne: Britain's Frontier in West Asia, 1918–1923, SUNY Press, 1976, ISBN 0-87395-265-0, sayfa 216 Archived 15 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ "British Indian troops attacked by Turks; thirty wounded and British officer captured – Warships' guns drive enemy back Archived 6 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine," New York Times (18 June 1920).
  5. ^ "Allies occupy Constantinople; seize ministries; Turkish and British Indian soldiers killed in a clash at the War Office Archived 4 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine," New York Times (18 March 1920).
  6. ^ "British to defend Ismid-Black Sea line" Archived 25 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 19 July 1920.
  7. ^ "Greeks enter Brussa; Turkish raids go on" Archived 27 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 11 July 1920.
  8. ^ "Turk Nationalists capture Beicos" Archived 1 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 7 July 1920.
  9. ^ "Allies occupy Constantinople; seize ministries" Archived 25 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 18 March 1920.
  10. ^ "British to fight rebels in Turkey" Archived 24 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 1 May 1920.
  11. ^ Nurettin Türsan, Burhan Göksel: Birinci Askeri Tarih Semineri: bildiriler, 1983, page 42 Archived 15 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ Chester Neal Tate, Governments of the world: a global guide to citizens' rights and responsibilities, Macmillan Reference USA/Thomson Gale, 2006, p. 205.
  13. ^ Doğan, Zülfikar (5 February 2016). "Erdogan's new Kurdish allies". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  14. ^ Jabar, Faleh A; Mansour, Renad, eds. (2019). The Kurds in a Changing Middle East: History, Politics and Representation. I.B. Tauris. doi:10.5040/9781788318907.ch-0007. hdl:1874/420966. ISBN 978-1-78673-549-2. S2CID 204390944.
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  17. ^ "Turkish Government-Associated Death Squads". thesop.org. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  18. ^ Metelits, Claire, Inside Insurgency: Violence, Civilians, and Revolutionary Group Behavior, (New York University Press, 2010), 154–155.
  19. ^ Belge, Ceren (24 January 2011). "State Building and the Limits of Legibility: Kinship Networks and Kurdish Resistance in Turkey". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 43 (1): 95–114. doi:10.1017/S0020743810001212. ISSN 0020-7438. S2CID 145444623. When it started small-scale attacks in 1978, the PKK... deliberately targeted a number of influential clan leaders, especially those affiliated with right-wing political parties, to underline the class dimension of its struggle.
  20. ^ Marcus, Aliza (2007). Blood and belief : the PKK and the Kurdish fight for independence. New York: New York University Press. pp. 44–48. ISBN 978-0-8147-5711-6. OCLC 85162306. The Suleymanlar saw these leftists as a threat to the existing order, while the Kurdistan Revolutionaries viewed oppressive, landowning tribes like the Suleymanlar as much the enemy as the state itself... In Hilvan, the Suleymanlar tribe renewed their attacks on the PKK, kidnapping and killing six villagers.
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  22. ^ "Ashton Carter'dan önemli YPG, PYD ve PKK açıklaması – Son Dakika Dünya Haberleri". 28 April 2016. Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  23. ^ "Fighting ISIS: The Road to and beyond Raqqa | Crisis Group". 28 April 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Soros'un kurduğu örgüt: YPG, PKK'nın Suriye kolu". 2 May 2017. Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Donald Trump Wants to Defeat the Islamic State—So He's Arming the Kurds". The Atlantic. 9 May 2017. Archived from the original on 22 May 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  26. ^ "PKK ve PYD Europol raporunda". Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  27. ^ TKP/ML Organising Committee (13 November 2017). "Statement of the Organising Committee of TKP/ML: Defend the party, its principles and general line. Oppose the putschists!". tkpml.com. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
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  30. ^ "Kurdish separatist group leader Öcalan calls to stop armed struggle". Trend AZ. 21 March 2013. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
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  33. ^ "PKK 12. Kongresi'nde tarihi kararlar: Silahlı mücadele sona eriyor". Independent Türkçe (in Turkish). 2025-05-10. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
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  36. ^ Miller, Judith. "Syria Plans to Double Gulf Force." The New York Times, 27 March 1991.
  37. ^ Haberman, Clyde; Times, Special To the New York (20 January 1991). "WAR IN THE GULF: Turkey; Turkey's Role in Air Assault Sets Off Fear of Retaliation (Published 1991)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
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  43. ^ "Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan (2015-2021)". NATO. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  44. ^ "Parliament OKs Turkey's Involvement in Libya". The Oakland Press. Ankara. Associated Press. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  45. ^ "Stratfor: Turkey and Russia wage "full-blown proxy war" in Syria". Ahval. 17 January 2018.
  46. ^ "Assad, Iran support Kurdish forces against Turkey in Syria's Afrin with key weapon systems – reports". Al Masdar News. 9 February 2018. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  47. ^ "Stratfor: Turkey and Russia wage "full-blown proxy war" in Syria". Ahval. 17 January 2018.
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Bibliography

  • Gingeras, Ryan (2022). The Last Days of the Ottoman Empire. Dublin: Random House. ISBN 978-0-241-44432-0.