Hulusi Akar

Hulusi Akar
29th Chief of the General Staff
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 August 2015
President	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded by	Necdet Özel
Personal details
Born	17 January 1952 Kayseri, Turkey
Awards	See below
Military service
Nickname(s)	"Seri Paşa"
Allegiance	Turkey
Service/branch	Turkish Armed Forces
Years of service	1973–present
Rank	General
Commands	Chief of the General Staff Commander of Land Forces Deputy Chief of the General Staff 3rd Land Forces Corps Land Forces Logistics Command Land Forces General Staff College Command Military Academy Command Chief of Plans and Policy Internal Security Brigade Command Chief of Public Information
Battles/wars	Bosnian War ISAF Coalition Kosovo War Turkey-PKK conflict Turkey-ISIL conflict Operation Shah Euphrates Turco-Russian confrontation

Hulusi Akar (born 17 January 1952) is a four-star Turkish Armed Forces general. He is currently serving as the 29th Chief of the General Staff. Akar is the highest-ranking military officer in the Turkish Armed Forces.^[1] After the President and the Ministry of National Defence, he has the highest command on all service branches of the Turkish Armed Forces including the Land Forces, Air Force and Navy. Akar has experience as a brigade commander in various NATO engagements including ISAF, Operation Deliberate Force during the Bosnian War and the Kosovo Force during the Kosovo War.^[2][3][4]

Early life and education

Akar was born in 1952 in Kayseri, Turkey. He graduated from the Turkish Military Academy in 1972 and the Turkish Infantry School in 1973. In 1975 he attended Queen's University Belfast for postgraduate studies in International Diplomacy.

Military career

Akar served as a company commander, section chief and branch chief at various units and headquarters including the Turkish General Staff. He also served as an instructor at the Army Command and Staff College and was posted abroad as a staff officer in the intelligence division in HQ AFSOUTH / Naples, ltaly between 1990 and 1993. From 1993 until 1994, he was the Military Assistant to the Land Forces Commander, also served as the Chief Public Information Officer. Later on, he continued this assignment for the Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces between the years of 1994-1997. He was subsequently posted as the Commander of the Turkish Brigade - Zenica / Bosnia from 1997 until 1998.

Upon his promotion to Brigadier General in 1998, he commanded the Internal Security Brigade for two years, and then served as the Chief of Plans and Policy in Headquarters AFSOUTH / Naples, Italy between 2000 and 2002. Following his promotion to Major General in 2002, he assumed the command of the Military Academy for three years and was subsequently the Commander of the Army Command and Staff College for two years until 2007.

After his promotion to Lieutenant General, he was the commander of Land Forces Logistics and then the Commander of NRDC-T and the 3rd Turkish Corps between 2009 and 2011. Subsequent to his promotion to the rank of General in 2011, he served as the Deputy Chief of the Turkish General Staff from 2011 until 2013, and the Commander of the Turkish Land Forces from 2013 until 2015.

On 2 August 2015, General Akar was appointed as the 29th Chief of the General Staff and took up the position on 18 August 2015.

2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt

Akar with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 22 July 2016

Akar was taken hostage on 15 July 2016 during the Turkish Armed Forces' 2016 attempted coup d'état against the Turkish government by rogue Turkish special forces operatives. The perpetrators are believed to be the group responsible for leading the attempted coup.^[5] According to The Economist, Akar "was told by his aides to sign a declaration of martial law. When he refused, they tightened a belt around his neck, but he would not yield."^[6] He was held hostage at Akıncı Air Base in Ankara before pro-government forces retook control over the air base and rescued him in the early hours of 16 July 2016.^[7]

The rescue was announced at 02:45 EEST on 16 July 2016 by Anadolu Agency, although CNN Türk placed the time of rescue attempt around 07:45 EEST.^[8][9] First Army commander General Ümit Dündar served as Acting Chief of General Staff during Akar's capture.^[10] After his release he testified that one of his captors offered to put him on the phone with alleged coup figurehead Fethullah Gülen.^[11]

Awards and decorations

TAF Medal of Honor, TAF Medal of Distinguished Courage and Self-Sacrifice, TAF Medal of Distinguished Service, Legion of Merit, Order of National Security Merit of South Korea, Azerbaijan Distinguished Service in Military Cooperation.

Personal life

General Hulusi Akar is married to Şule Akar, with whom he has two children. He speaks English.

See also

• List of Chiefs of the Turkish General Staff

References

1. "Yeni Genelkurmay Başkanı Hulusi Akar oldu (Hulusi Akar kimdir?)" [Who is our new Chief of the General Staff Hulusi Akar?]. Haber Türk (in Turkish). Istanbul. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
2. "Yeni Genelkurmay Başkanı Hulusi Akar kimdir?". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 5 August 2015.
3. Ergan, Uğur (5 August 2015). "Yeni Genelkurmay Başkanı Hulusi Akar oldu (Hulusi Akar kimdir?)". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 5 August 2015.
4. "Orgeneral Hulusi Akar bu mesajla göreve başladı". Habertürk (in Turkish). 19 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
5. "Turkey coup: military attempt to seize power from Erdogan as low flying jets and gunfire heard in Ankara and bridges across Bosphorus in Istanbul closed". The Telegraph. London. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
6. "After the coup, the counter-coup: The failed putsch was the bloodiest Turkey has seen; the backlash is as worrying". The Economist. 23 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
7. "Turkey's Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar rescued from pro-coup soldiers". Daily Sabah. Istanbul. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
8. "Genelkurmay Başkanı Akar kurtarıldı". Posta (in Turkish). Istanbul. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
9. "Genelkurmay Başkanı Akar kurtarıldı". CNN Türk (in Turkish). Istanbul. 15–16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
10. "Orgeneral Akar kurtarıldı". Al Jazeera Türk (in Turkish). Istanbul. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
11. "Most Turks believe a secretive Muslim sect was behind the failed coup". The Economist. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.