For the first time in the history of the Turkish armed forces, a woman – a brigadier general – was appointed to the main command of the gendarmerie on August 13.
Özlem Yılmaz was appointed by the decree of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The decree was published in the Turkish State Gazette and entered into force.
According to the decree, Yozlem Yilmaz was promoted from senior colonel to brigadier general. She will hold the position of Vice President of the Gendarmerie and Coast Guard Academy at the Turkish Gendarmerie General Command.
Before that, General Özlem Yılmaz was the head of the Directorate for Combating Domestic Violence and the Department for Children at the General Command of the Gendarmerie.
The appointment of the first woman – a brigadier general – to the country’s gendarmerie command caused a strong response in Turkey, and the topic was commented on in all the media.
Yozlem Yilmaz was born in 1968.
The Turkish Gendarmerie, to which the border troops and the coast guard are subordinate, is under the system of the Turkish Ministry of the Interior.
The Turkish Gendarmerie has about 150 thousand personnel, of which about 60 thousand are specialized personnel. The Gendarmerie has over 1,500 combat vehicles and dozens of helicopters.
The head of the Turkish gendarmerie is army general Arif Cetin.
Meanwhile, by presidential decree, a total of 69 generals and colonels have been appointed to various command positions in the gendarmerie.
