Supreme Military Council Decisions Announced

According to a statement from the Presidential Directorate of Communications, at the 2025 Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting held at the Presidential Complex, the situations of generals/admirals and colonels serving in the Turkish Armed Forces who will be promoted to a higher rank, whose terms of office will be extended, and who will be retired due to lack of staff were discussed and decided upon with President Erdoğan's approval.

In this context, effective from August 30, 32 generals and admirals were promoted to a higher rank, 61 colonels were promoted to general and admiral ranks, the terms of office of 29 generals were extended by one year, and the terms of office of 478 colonels were extended by two years.

Two generals were retired effective September 1, 2025, due to age limits, and 43 generals and admirals were retired effective August 30, 2025, due to lack of staff.

Chief of the General Staff, General Metin Gürak, retired due to a lack of staff. Land Forces Commander, General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, was appointed Chief of the General Staff.

General Metin Tokel, Commander of the 1st Army, was appointed Commander of the Land Forces. The terms of office of Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ercüment Tatlıoğlu and Air Forces Commander General Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu were extended by one year.

In line with the decisions, the number of generals and admirals, which is currently 316, will increase to 332 as of August 30, 2025.

Promotions will be effective from August 30

Lieutenant Generals Bahtiyar Ersay from the Land Forces Command were promoted to General, Lieutenant General Rafet Dalkıran from the Air Forces Command was promoted to General, Major Generals İlkay Altındağ, Sebahattin Kılınç, Rasim Yaldız, Fedai Ünsal, Muammer Alper, Tuncay Altuğ and Ahmet Kurumahmut from the Land Forces Command were promoted to Lieutenant General, Rear Admiral Rafet Oktar from the Naval Forces Command was promoted to Vice Admiral, and Major General Ergin Dinç from the Air Forces Command was promoted to Lieutenant General.

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 from the Land Forces Command were promoted to Major General; Rear Admirals Mehmet Savaş Eser, Aziz Bakıoğlu, and Timur Yılmaz from the Naval Forces Command were promoted to Rear Admiral; and Brigadier Generals Ertan Uzun, Vedat Öncel, and Serkan Gökhan Can from the Air Forces Command were promoted to Major General.

These promotions will be valid from August 30th.

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."

President Erdoğan shared a photo of the moment he signed the decisions on his social media account. "May the decisions we have made be beneficial and auspicious for our country, our nation, and our heroic army," he said.