Daniş Karabelen (1898–1983[1]) was a Turkish Army general who was the founder of Turkey's Tactical Mobilisation Group in 1952, and served as its chief until his retirement in 1960.
Career
Karabelen was among those taken out of Military School in 1915 to participate in the Turkish defence against the Allied Gallipoli Campaign.[2] Surviving this, he became an officer in the Turkish Army and worked closely with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and taking a lead in developing some sports in the new Republic of Turkey, becoming Turkey's first national pole-vaulting champion.[2]
Karabelen was one of sixteen soldiers (including Turgut Sunalp, Ahmet Yıldız, Alparslan Türkeş, Suphi Karaman, and Fikret Ateşdağlı) who were sent to the United States in 1948 for training in special warfare. These people were to form the core of what would later be called the Special Warfare Department (Turkish: Özel Harp Dairesi, or ÖHD),[3] founded by Karabelen as the Tactical Mobilisation Group in September 1952.[2][4][5][6]
Karabelen (then a Colonel) served in the Korean War from November 1952 to August 1953,[7] as Assistant Commanding Officer of the Third Turkish Brigade.[8] During this time he was one of 7 Turkish officers who attended the April 1953 Anzac Day commemoration in Australia, the first time Turkey had sent representatives.[2] In 1954 he was awarded the Legion of Merit in the degree of Legionnaire by the United States Army.[7]
Karabelen served as chief of the Tactical Mobilisation Group until his retirement in 1960.[4]
Books
- Cemal Kutay (2006), Beş Kıt'ada Bir Türk Paşası: Daniş Karabelen, Avcıol Basım Yayım
References
- ^ kitap.radikal.com.tr, Beş kıt'ada bir Türk Paşa'sı Daniş Karabelen Archived 2013-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d Ilknur Boray, A Friendship that Survived Two Continents, One War, 70 Years[permanent dead link], Voice of Atatürk, Fall 2010, Atatürk Society of America
- ^ Mercan, Faruk (2006-01-09). "İlk Özel Harpçi Orgeneral". Aksiyon (in Turkish). 579. Feza Gazetecilik A.Ş. Archived from the original on June 8, 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
- ^ a b Bugün, 5 January 2010, Kozmik odaya giren tek siyasetçi Archived 2013-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ""Kontrgerilla", "Gladio", "Derin Devlet" gibi kavramlar hakkında" (Press release) (in Turkish). Turkish Armed Forces. 2006-01-16. BA-01/06. Archived from the original on 2008-03-08.
- ^ "'Gladyo'dan Ergenekon'a yolculuk". Politika. Radikal (in Turkish). 2008-08-12. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ^ a b Military Times, Danis Karabelen
- ^ Twenty-fifth Infantry Division: Tropic Lightning, Korea, 1950–1954, Volume 2, Turner Publishing Company 2002, p145