President Erdoğan signed the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) decisions

The Directorate of Communications issued a written statement regarding the decisions taken at the 2.5-hour Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting. According to the statement, the meeting discussed those who would be promoted to a higher rank, whose terms of office would be extended, and who would be retired due to lack of staff positions, and the decisions were made with the approval of President Erdoğan. Accordingly, effective as of August 30, 2025, 32 generals and admirals were promoted to a higher rank, and 61 colonels were promoted to general and admiral ranks. The terms of office of 29 generals were extended by 1 year, and the terms of office of 478 colonels were extended by 2 years. Two generals were retired effective September 1, 2025 due to age limit, and 43 generals and admirals were retired effective August 30, 2025 due to lack of staff positions.

GÜRAK RETIRED

Chief of General Staff General Metin Gürak was forced to retire due to a lack of staff, and Land Forces Commander General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu was appointed in his place. First Army Commander General Metin Tokel was appointed as Land Forces Commander. The terms of office of Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ercüment Tatlıoğlu and Air Forces Commander General Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu were extended by one year. The number of generals and admirals, currently 316, will rise to 332 as of August 30, 2025.

PROMOTIONS

Lieutenant General Bahtiyar Ersay was promoted to full general in the Land Forces Command; Lieutenant General Rafet Dalkıran was promoted to full general in the Air Forces Command; Major Generals İlkay Altındağ, Sebahattin Kılınç, Rasim Yaldız, Fedai Ünsal, Muammer Alper, Tuncay Altuğ and Ahmet Kurumahmut were promoted to lieutenant general in the Land Forces Command; In the Naval Forces Command, Rear Admiral Rafet Oktar was promoted to vice admiral, in the Air Forces Command, Major General Ergin Dinç was promoted to lieutenant general, in the Land Forces Command, brigadier generals Aydın Kılıç, Süleyman Akbay, Tolga Genç, Gökhan Çelik, Levent Sabahattin Güldağı, Cem Kamil Sağcan, Nurettin Hakan Büyükçulha, Soner Oruçoğlu, İlker Ertuğrul, Sebahattin Kalkan, Ümit Durmaz, Eray Üngüder, Osman Akyıldız, Ercan Eroğlu, and Ahmet Hamdi Ataç were promoted to major general, in the Naval Forces Command, rear admirals Mehmet Savaş Eser, Aziz Bakıoğlu, and Timur Yılmaz were promoted to rear admiral, and in the Air Forces Command, brigadier generals Ertan Uzun, Vedat Öncel, and Serkan Gökhan Can were promoted to major general.

The statement read, "We hope that the new ranks and duties of the generals, admirals, and colonels who have been promoted to higher ranks and whose terms of office have been extended will be beneficial to our nation, our state, our Armed Forces, and their families. We thank the generals, admirals, and colonels who will retire after completing their terms of office with great dedication and honor for their service. We wish them and their families happiness and well-being in the new chapters of their lives."

DHA

Reporter: News Center