President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has appointed Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu as Turkey’s new chief of general staff, selecting a senior military figure who earlier this year filed a defamation lawsuit against main opposition leader Özgür Özel over his criticism of military expulsions seen as targeting secularist officers.
The decision was announced on August 5 following a High Military Council (YAŞ) meeting chaired by Erdoğan at the presidential complex in Ankara. Bayraktaroğlu replaces Gen. Metin Gürak, who was forced into retirement due to what authorities described as a “lack of available positions,” despite previous expectations that he would remain in the post for another two years.
General Sir Patrick Sanders @ArmyCGS has welcomed Commander Turkish Land Forces General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu to London.
Their meeting reaffirmed Turkey as a vital partner for the UK on defence and also as a fellow @NATO member 🇬🇧 🤝 🇹🇷
1/2 pic.twitter.com/FlRly594hd
— British Army 🇬🇧 (@BritishArmy) December 5, 2023
Bayraktaroğlu, who has served as commander of the land forces since August 2023, was among several top military leaders who jointly sued Özel for defamation after the opposition leader publicly accused them of orchestrating the dismissal of five lieutenants over an unauthorized but symbolic oath referencing Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.
In a February speech in parliament, Özel directly addressed Bayraktaroğlu and Naval Forces Commander Adm. Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, saying, “You are men who have earned the curses, not the blessings, of your comrades.” He accused them of waging an internal campaign to remove the officers and pressuring the Supreme Disciplinary Board to approve the expulsions. Özel also alleged that Lt. Gen. Tevfik Algan, who opposed the dismissals and led the board, was sidelined as a result.
The government maintained that the expulsions were based solely on insubordination and disciplinary violations. However, critics saw the move as part of a broader campaign to suppress expressions of secularist identity within the military. The unauthorized ceremony on August 30, 2024, involved a group of graduates chanting “We are Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers” during a traditional sword ritual.
Following Özel’s remarks, President Erdoğan publicly backed the military leadership and urged legal retaliation. “I am addressing you as the commander-in-chief: Watch your step, and if you don’t, we will make sure you do,” Erdoğan said on February 26. “You have no right to attack the command echelon of our military. Know your place.”
NEW: Head of #Turkiye's Military, Metin Gurak, the Chief of the General Staff, has been retired at today's Supreme Military Council meeting
He'd been in the job 2 years, military chiefs generally serve 4
He'll be replaced by Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, head of the land forces pic.twitter.com/q0JQbeFRgv
— Andrew Hopkins (@achopkins1) August 5, 2025
Bayraktaroğlu’s appointment is one of several changes formalized at the YAŞ meeting. First Army commander Gen. Metin Tokel was named the new land forces chief.
Tokel’s appointment reignited a controversy over a widely circulated 2016 video in which he welcomed then-prime minister Binali Yıldırım with excessive flattery, saying Yıldırım’s arrival brought “honor felt in our souls …” In the clip Tokel went so far as to claim that fellow officers had sensed the prime minister’s presence before he arrived, attracting public ridicule and criticism for his obsequious comment.
The terms of Adm. Tatlıoğlu and Air Forces Commander Gen. Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu were extended by one year. A total of 32 generals and admirals were promoted, and 61 colonels were elevated to general or admiral ranks. Forty-three generals and admirals were retired due to the lack of available positions.
Born in 1961 in Artvin’s Yusufeli district, Bayraktaroğlu is a career officer who graduated from Kuleli Military High School in 1977 and the Turkish Military Academy in 1981. He rose through the ranks with postings in communications and logistics, eventually serving as deputy chief of general staff in 2021 before taking command of the land forces in 2023. He was awarded the Turkish Armed Forces Distinguished Service Medal in 2021 by then-defense minister Hulusi Akar.
His appointment marks the first time a chief of general staff has taken office after publicly clashing with the opposition leader through the courts. Bayraktaroğlu, along with Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and other commanders, initiated legal action in March seeking non-pecuniary damages from Özel.
The lawsuits followed similar defamation rulings against Özel, including a court decision ordering him to pay damages to Akar over earlier critical remarks.
The YAŞ meeting also reflected significant structural changes to Turkey’s military promotion system. A recently passed law now allows officers from outside the traditional staff corps — including those not from the naval deck or air force pilot tracks — to be promoted to higher ranks. The age limit for service by force commanders and full generals was raised from 65 to 67, with further extensions possible by presidential decree, potentially up to the age of 72.
As of August 30 the number of generals and admirals in the Turkish Armed Forces will rise from 316 to 332.