Memduh Tağmaç

Memduh Tağmaç (* 1904 in Erzurum , Erzurum Province ; † March 30, 1978 ) was a Turkish general who was last chief of the general staff from 1969 to 1972 ( Genelkurmay Başkanı ).

Life

Military training and promotion to general

After attending the Kuleli Kadettenanstalt , he attended the artillery class of the military school from 1926 to 1928 and then the artillery school until 1930. After its completion, he found work as an officer in various artillery units until 1935 , before he then attended the military academy ( Harp Akademisi ), which he graduated in 1938. In the following years he served as an officer and staff officer in several army units.

After his promotion to brigadier general in 1956, he was first commander of the Gendarmerie School of NCOs ( Jandarma ), then Vice-Commander of the 23rd Gendarmerie Department and Commander of the 3rd Gendarmerie Brigade and finally acting staff officer of the 3rd Army in Erzincan .

In 1959, Tağmaç was promoted to major general and at the same time appointed as personnel officer of the land forces and at the same time as deputy head of Department II of the General Staff of Turkey . After his promotion to Lieutenant General in 1962, he took over the post of Deputy Commander in Chief of the 3rd Army.

In 1964 Tağmaç was promoted to general and initially retained his position as Deputy Army of the 3rd Army, before he succeeded General Ahmet Refik Yılmaz as Commander-in-Chief of the 1st Army in Istanbul in 1966 . On August 23, 1968 he succeeded General Ahmet Refik Yılmaz again, this time as Commander in Chief of the Land Forces ( Türk Kara Kuvvetleri ).

Chief of the General Staff and military coup of 1971

Only a few months later, on March 16, 1969, he succeeded General Cemal Tural as Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces ( Türk Silahlı Kuvetleri ), while the previous head of General Staff Division II, General Fikret Esen , became the new commander-in-chief of the land forces.

During his tenure as chief of staff there was a military coup on March 12, 1971 . On March 12, 1971 at 1 p.m., the generals' statement was read out on the radio station of the state radio and television company TRT . Parliament and the government were blamed for anarchy and fratricidal war, social and economic unrest. The future of the Turkish Republic is under serious threat. The memorandum of the Chief of Staff, General Memduh Tağmaç, the Commander of the Army, General Faruk Gürler , the Commander of the Air Force , General Muhsin Batur and the Commander of the Navy , Admiral Celal Eyiceoğlu called for the formation of a non-partisan government that could overcome the difficulties. Otherwise the armed forces are ready to take over the administration themselves.

On March 26, 1971, Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel actually resigned and was replaced on the same day by Nihat Erim , a member of the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (CHP) in the Grand National Assembly .

On August 29, 1972 Tağmaç was at his own request in the retirement displaced and replaced by General Faruk Gürler, the former commander in chief of the land forces.

After his death he was buried in the Zincirlikuyu cemetery in Istanbul.

Web links

• Entry in Kim Kimdir? (Who is who?)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 40. yılında tüm ayrıntıları ile 12 Mart muhtırası (March 13, 2011; accessed on August 20, 2012)