{"id":13335,"date":"2021-12-14T14:20:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T13:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/senior-course-139-travels-to-ankara-turkiye-for-field-study-3\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T09:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T08:34:17","slug":"senior-course-139-travels-to-ankara-turkiye-for-field-study-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/senior-course-139-travels-to-ankara-turkiye-for-field-study-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior Course 139 travels to Ankara, T\u00fcrkiye for Field Study 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/139FS3-Turkey_1_1.jpg\" alt=\"Senior Course 139 group photo at the Atat\u00fcrk Mausoleum in Anitkabir.\" \/><figcaption>Senior Course 139 group photo at the Atat\u00fcrk Mausoleum in Anitkabir.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">On 9 December, the NDC Commandant and Senior Course 139 travelled to Ankara, T\u00fcrkiye, as part of Field Study 3. The delegation and Course Members were received at the Turkish General Staff Headquarters where NDC\u2019s Turkish Senior National Representative, Minister Plenipotentiary Julide Kayihan welcomed all participants and introduced the distinguished speakers of the morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">Rear Admiral \u00d6zg\u00fcr \u00d6zcan Altunbulak, Deputy General Manager for Security and Defense Affairs at the Ministry of Defense initiated discussions by describing the organizational structure of the national Ministry of Defense. He provided an extensive overview of the regional security situation and identified multiple challenges that the country faces, all of geostrategic importance to T\u00fcrkiye. <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">The second briefing by Mr Bekir Sarp Erzi covered T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s foreign policy particularly as it pertains to NATO. Mr Erzi, Head of Department at the Deputy General Directorate in charge of NATO Affairs, expressed much pleasure in hosting the NDC delegation, especially he himself was once a member Senior Course 130, making him one of the distinguished Anciens of the College. <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">T\u00fcrkiye has been a NATO member since 1952. Amid rising instability and unprecedented challenges located its geographical area, the country pursues an active foreign policy. Mr Erzi articulated the main principles of the \u201chumanitarian and enterprising Turkish foreign policy.\u201d  He spoke of the key aspects of T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s objectives in this regard, namely, the relevance of advancing international cooperation; improving crisis management and strengthening stability; protecting citizen\u2019s rights and continuing the fight against terrorism. The latter remains the most manifest and enduring threat to the country. <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">Following an Office Call between the NDC Commandant, the Turkish Deputy CHOD General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, Brigadier General Riccardo Brizi and Minister Plenipotentiary  Julide Kayihan, the third briefer addressed the Senior Course.<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">Brigadier General Ozkan Ulutas, Director of Strategy at the Turkish General Staff (TGS), spoke in detail of the mission of the Turkish Armed Forces.  He further explained what efforts are currently being deployed in the fight against terrorism, as the country faces multiple terrorist threats from different terrorist groups. Moreover, he highlighted the country\u2019s contributions to the Alliance\u2019s various operations and missions. He also introduced several Centers of Excellence located in T\u00fcrkiye, as well as the Multinational Joint Warfare Center (MJWC) in Istanbul. <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">Finally, Ms Aysegul Tokatli, Regional Manager for Americas and Europe, Department of International Cooperation within the Presidency of the Defence Industries (SSB) briefed the NDC on Turkish defence industries capabilities.  This eminent organization, headed by President of the Republic Recep Tayyip Erdogan and run by a Board of Directors, was founded in 1985. The SSB was established by the government to manage the defense industry of T\u00fcrkiye and the development of military technology, which lies at the heart of the country\u2019s industry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">Course Members had the unique opportunity to interact with the Turkish representatives during the Q &#038; A. The activities continued with a solemn ceremony observed at the Anitkabir, the memorial tomb of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the leader of the Turkish War of Independence and the founder and first President of the Republic of T\u00fcrkiye. Lieutenant General Rittimann, NDC Course President Major General Fix, and the entire NDC group, laid a commemorative wreath on behalf of the delegation. <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">The group concluded the daily activities with visits to the facilities of three prominent national defence organizations to gain an even closer understanding of the country\u2019s industrial capacity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">\n<p><em>NDC Public Affairs Office<br>(Prepared by Ms Ilaria Latorre, ITA C)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senior Course 139 group photo at the Atat\u00fcrk Mausoleum in Anitkabir. On 9 December, the NDC Commandant and<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"post_badge":[],"class_list":["post-13335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"NDC","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/author\/admin_3rwqf6tj\/"},"modified_by":null,"author_meta":{"display_name":"NDC","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/author\/admin_3rwqf6tj\/"},"featured_img":null,"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","trp-custom-language-flag":"","morenews-featured":"","morenews-large":"","morenews-medium":""},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/category\/news\/\" rel=\"category tag\">News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":0,"coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/category\/news\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">News<\/span>"]}},"relative_dates":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 5 ans il y a","modified":"Mis \u00e0 jour 6 mois il y a"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le d\u00e9cembre 14, 2021","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le d\u00e9cembre 14, 2021 14:20","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026 09:34"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13335\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13335"},{"taxonomy":"post_badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_badge?post=13335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}