Military profile
Türkiye Military Strength
Türkiye ranks #11 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 425,000 active personnel. It spent $30.0 billion on its military in 2025 (1.9% of GDP).
Türkiye armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 425,000#11 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 200,000#25 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 150,000#17 of 145
- Army personnel
- 200,000#14 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 50,000#10 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 45,000#16 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 1,065#9 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 205#15 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 478#7 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 110#6 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 2,229#11 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 1,038#8 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 2,107#8 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 516#14 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 0#15 of 113
- Frigates
- 16#4 of 113
- Corvettes
- 9#7 of 113
- Submarines
- 12#9 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 34#30 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 11#13 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $30.0 billion#18 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 1.9%#69 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $2.40 trillion#11 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Türkiye military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Türkiye grew by 70% between 2010 and 2025, from $17.7 billion to $30.0 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 1.9% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Türkiye
Branches and forces
Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK): Turkish Land Forces (Türk Kara Kuvvetleri), Turkish Naval Forces (Türk Deniz Kuvvetleri; includes naval air and naval infantry), Turkish Air Forces (Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) Ministry of Interior: Gendarmerie General Command (aka Gendarmerie of the Turkish Republic), Turkish Coast Guard Command, General Directorate of Security (National Police) (2025)
Personnel
approximately 495,000 active military personnel; approximately 150,000 Gendarmerie (2025)
Service age and conscription
military service is compulsory for Turkish men 20-41 for a period of 6-12 months; men and women may volunteer (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the military's inventory is comprised of domestically produced and mostly European (such as Germany, Italy, and Spain) or US armaments; other suppliers have included Russia and South Korea; Türkiye's defense industry produces a range of weapons systems for both export and internal use, including armored vehicles, naval vessels, and unmanned aerial vehicles/drones; some of its domestically produced armaments are produced jointly with foreign partners or based on imported weapons systems and produced under license (2025)
Deployments abroad
approximately 250 Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUFOR); approximately 30,000 Cyprus; 730 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR); Turkiye also has several thousand military personnel deployed to other countries under bilateral agreements, including Azerbaijan, Libya, Qatar, and Somalia (2025)
Good to know
the responsibilities of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) include protecting the country's territory and sovereignty, participating in international peacekeeping operations, fulfilling Türkiye’s military commitments to NATO, providing disaster/humanitarian relief and assistance to domestic law enforcement if requested by civil authorities, and supporting the country's overall national security interests; it also has overall responsibility for the security of Türkiye’s borders Türkiye is active in international peacekeeping and other military/security operations under NATO and the UN, as well as under bilateral agreements with some countries, such as Azerbaijan, Libya, Somalia, and Qatar; Türkiye has been a member of NATO since 1952 and hosts the headquarters for a NATO Land Command and a Rapid Deployment Corps, multiple airbases for NATO and US aircraft, NATO air/missile defense systems, and training centers; the TAF is the second-largest military in NATO behind the US the military traces its history back to 200 B.C., although the modern TAF was formed following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the conclusion of the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923); the TAF traditionally has been viewed as the “guardian” of Turkish politics, but its political role was diminished after the failed 2016 coup attempt; the military has a stake in Türkiye's economy through a holding company that is involved in the automotive, defense, energy, finance, and logistics sectors, as well as iron and steel production (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2025: 2.3% · 2024: 2.1% · 2023: 1.5% · 2022: 1.4% · 2021: 1.6%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
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