List of wars involving Turkey

This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Turkey and includes conflicts such as coups, insurgencies, offensives, border and international disputes since the Turkish War of Independence in 1919. For wars before 1919, involving the Ottoman Empire, see List of wars involving the Ottoman Empire.

  Turkish victory

  Another result *

  Turkish defeat

  Ongoing conflict

*e.g. a treaty or peace without a clear result, status quo ante bellum, result of civil or internal conflict, result unknown or indecisive, inconclusive

Wars

Conflict	Turkey and allies	Opponent(s)	Results	Leaders
				President(s)	Prime Minister(s) / Vice President(s)
War of Independence (1919–1923) Franco-Turkish War (1918–1921) Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Turkish–Armenian War (1920)	Ankara Government	Greece  France  Armenia  United Kingdom  Istanbul Government  Italy	Victory[1] Treaty of Lausanne Establishment of the Republic of Turkey	Mustafa Kemal Atatürk	Fevzi Çakmak Rauf Orbay Fethi Okyar
Sheikh Said rebellion (1927)	Turkey	Azadî	Victory Revolt suppressed	Mustafa Kemal Atatürk	İsmet İnönü
Ararat rebellion (1927–1930)	Turkey	Republic of Ararat	Victory Revolt suppressed	Mustafa Kemal Atatürk	İsmet İnönü
Dersim rebellion (1937–1938)	Turkey	Kurdish Alevi rebels	Victory Revolt suppressed	Mustafa Kemal Atatürk	İsmet İnönü Celâl Bayar
World War II (1939–1945) Turkish declaration of war on Germany and Japan	United States  Soviet Union  United Kingdom  China  France  Poland  Canada  Australia  New Zealand  India  South Africa  Yugoslavia  Greece  Denmark  Norway  Netherlands  Belgium  Luxembourg  Czechoslovakia  Brazil  Mexico  Chile  Bolivia  Colombia  Ecuador  Paraguay  Peru  Venezuela  Uruguay  Argentina  Turkey	Germany  Japan  Italy  Hungary  Romania  Bulgaria  Croatia  Slovakia  Finland  Thailand  Manchukuo  Mengjiang	Victory Collapse of the German Reich Fall of Japanese and Italian Empires Creation of the United Nations Emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers Beginning of the Cold War	İsmet İnönü	Şükrü Saracoğlu
Korean War (1950–1953)	South Korea UN Command  United States  United Kingdom  Canada  Turkey  Australia  Philippines  New Zealand  Thailand  Ethiopia  Greece  France  Colombia  Belgium  South Africa  Netherlands  Luxembourg	North Korea  China  Soviet Union	Stalemate Korean Armistice Agreement	Celâl Bayar	Adnan Menderes
Turkish invasion of Cyprus (1974)	Turkey TMT	Cyprus Greece	Victory Turkish overall control of 36.2% of Cyprus	Fahri Korutürk	Bülent Ecevit
Kurdish-Turkish Conflict (1978–) Turkish operations during the conflict	Turkey	KCK YDG-H HBDH TAK	Ongoing Truce 2012–2014, renewed fight in 2015	Fahri Korutürk Kenan Evren Turgut Özal Süleyman Demirel Ahmet Necdet Sezer Abdullah Gül Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Bülent Ecevit Süleyman Demirel Bülend Ulusu Turgut Özal Yıldırım Akbulut Mesut Yılmaz Tansu Çiller Necmettin Erbakan Abdullah Gül Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ahmet Davutoğlu Binali Yıldırım Fuat Oktay Cevdet Yılmaz
Gulf War (1990–1991)	Kuwait  United States  United Kingdom  Saudi Arabia  Egypt  France Coalition: Afghanistan[2]  Syria[3]  Morocco  Oman  Pakistan  Canada  United Arab Emirates  Qatar  Bangladesh  Italy  Australia  Netherlands  Germany  Philippines  Sweden  Turkey[4]  Argentina  Senegal  Spain  Bahrain  Belgium  Poland  South Korea  Singapore  Norway Czechoslovakia  Greece  Denmark[5]  New Zealand  Hungary	Iraq Republic of Kuwait (Iraqi puppet state)	Victory Iraqi forces expelled from Kuwait Kuwaiti independence restored Destruction of Iraqi and Kuwaiti infrastructure Shia and Kurdish uprisings against the Iraqi government Saddam Hussein regime of the Iraqi Baathist government retains power in Iraq UN sanctions against Iraq Iraqi no-fly zones established United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 establishes cease-fire terms, beginning of the Iraq disarmament controversies State of Kuwait restored Iraqi Kurdistan obtains autonomy, establishment of the northern Iraq no fly zone by the US'	Turgut Özal	Yıldırım Akbulut
Bosnian War (1995) (Participant in NATO Operation Deliberate Force)	NATO  Belgium  Canada  Denmark  France  Germany  Italy  Luxembourg  Netherlands  Norway  Portugal  Spain  Turkey  United Kingdom United States	Republika Srpska	Victory[6] Turkey committed 8 of 173 aircraft in the NATO force,[6] flew 2.2 percent of sorties[7] Dayton Agreement, deployment of NATO-led IFOR	Süleyman Demirel	Tansu Çiller
Iraqi Kurdish Civil War (1997)	KDP  Turkey	PUK PKK	Ceasefire Peace treaty between the KDP and the PUK	Süleyman Demirel	Necmettin Erbakan Mesut Yılmaz
Kosovo War (1998–1999) (Participant in NATO Operation Allied Force)	UÇK  NATO  Belgium  Canada  Denmark  France  Germany  Italy  Luxembourg  Netherlands  Norway  Portugal  Spain  Turkey  United Kingdom United States	FR Yugoslavia	Victory Turkey committed 11 F-16 aircraft to the NATO force, and US use of air bases[8] Kumanovo Treaty	Süleyman Demirel	Mesut Yılmaz Bülent Ecevit
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)	Afghanistan ISAF United States  United Kingdom  Australia  Canada  Germany  France  Italy  Czech Republic  Netherlands  Turkey  Romania  Georgia  South Korea  Poland  Denmark  Sweden  Norway  Finland  Singapore  New Zealand  Mongolia  Hungary  Belgium  Estonia  Latvia  Lithuania  Portugal  Albania  Slovenia	Taliban	Taliban victory / Turkish-allied defeat Fall of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 2001 International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) concluded their mission in 2014[9] Resolute Support Mission (RSM) was a non-combat mission and terminated in 2021 with the US-led withdrawal[10] Taliban control over Afghanistan increases compared to pre-intervention territory Return of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 2021	Ahmet Necdet Sezer Abdullah Gül Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Bülent Ecevit Abdullah Gül Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ahmet Davutoğlu Binali Yıldırım Fuat Oktay
Boko Haram insurgency (2009–present)	Multinational Joint Task Force  Nigeria  Cameroon  Chad  Niger  Benin Local militias and vigilantes CJTF, BOYES (Nigeria) Comités de vigilance (Chad, Cameroon) Dan banga (Niger) Foreign mercenaries STTEP  Turkey	Boko Haram (partially aligned with ISIL from 2015)[a] Shekau faction Several minor factions ISWAP (originally Barnawi faction of Boko Haram; from 2016) Ansaru[b]	Ongoing	Abdullah Gül Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ahmet Davutoğlu Binali Yıldırım Fuat Oktay Cevdet Yılmaz
First Libyan Civil War (2011) (Assisted NATO military intervention)	NTC  Qatar  NATO coalition United States  United Kingdom  France  Belgium  Bulgaria  Canada  Denmark  Greece  Italy  Netherlands  Norway  Romania  Spain  Turkey  Sweden  Jordan  United Arab Emirates	Libya	Victory Turkey helped enforce the no-fly zone and naval blockade[11] The NTC assumed interim control of Libya	Abdullah Gül	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkish involvement in the Syrian civil war (2011–present) Operation Euphrates Shield (2016–2017) Operation Olive Branch (2018–2019) Operation Peace Spring (2019) Operation Spring Shield (2020)	Turkey  Syrian opposition	Syrian Democratic Forces IFB Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Syrian Arab Republic  Russia[12]  Iran[13] Libyan National Army  Hezbollah	Ongoing Turkish occupation of Northern Syria Turkish military operation in Idlib Governorate Fall of the Assad regime in 2024	Abdullah Gül Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ahmet Davutoğlu Binali Yıldırım Fuat Oktay Cevdet Yılmaz
Mali War (2012–present)	Government of Mali Military of Mali  France (2013–2022)  Turkey (2014–present)  Germany (2017–present) ECOWAS  Benin  Burkina Faso  Cape Verde  Gambia  Ghana  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Ivory Coast  Liberia  Niger  Sierra Leone  Senegal  Togo MINUSMA (2013–2023)  Chad  Burundi  Gabon  South Africa  Rwanda  Tanzania  Uganda  China  Sweden  Estonia  Egypt  United Kingdom  Portugal Non-state combatants: Ganda Iso MAA-Loyaliste MSA (from 2016) GATIA (from 2014) Wagner Group (from 2021)[c] Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA) MAA-CMA	Al-Qaeda Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (2017–present) Al-Mourabitoun (2013–17) Ansar al-Sharia (2012–present) Ansar Dine (2012–17) AQIM (2012–17) Macina Liberation Front (2015–17) MOJWA (2011–13) Nigerian jihadist volunteers (2012–13) Boko Haram (2012–13)[14] Ansaru (2012–13)[15]  Islamic State Islamic State in the Greater Sahara	Ongoing Turkish intervention intensifies in 2022	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Fuat Oktay Cevdet Yılmaz
American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2017)	Iraq  Iraqi Kurdistan CJTF–OIR  United States  Australia  Belgium  Canada  Denmark  France  Germany  Jordan  Morocco  Netherlands  United Kingdom  Turkey	ISIS	Victory Turkish intervention in July 2015	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Ahmet Davutoğlu Binali Yıldırım
Turkish military intervention in the Second Libyan Civil War (2020)	Turkey Government of National Accord Syrian Interim Government	House of Representatives	Victory Turkey and its proxies in Libya pushed the LNA out of Tripoli GNA repelled the LNA offensive and advanced towards Sirte and Western Libya	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Fuat Oktay Cevdet Yılmaz

See also

• Military history of Turkey
• List of wars involving the Ottoman Empire
• List of battles involving the Ottoman Empire
• Military history of the Ottoman Empire

Notes

1. Following Mohammed Yusuf's death, Boko Haram splintered into numerous factions which no longer operated under a unified leadership. Though Abubakar Shekau eventually became the preeminent commander of the movement, he never really controlled all Boko Haram groups. Instead, the factions were loosely allied, but also occasionally clashed with each other. This situation changed in 2015 when Shekau pledged allegiance to ISIL. The leadership of ISIL eventually decided to replace Shekau as a local commander with Abu Mus'ab al-Barnawi, whereupon the movement split completely. Shekau no longer recognized the authority of ISIL's central command, and his loyalists started to openly fight the followers of al-Barnawi. Regardless, Shekau did never officially renounce his pledge of allegiance to ISIL as a whole; his forces are thus occasionally regarded as "second branch of ISWAP". Overall, the relation of Shekau with ISIL remains confused and ambiguous.
2. The exact origin of Ansaru is unclear, but it had already existed as Boko Haram faction before officially announcing its foundation as separate group on 1 January 2012. The group has no known military presence in Nigeria since 2015, but several of its members appear to be still active.
3. The participation of the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, has been denied by both Russia and Mali, which insist Russia is only sending military advisors.

References

1. Chester Neal Tate, Governments of the world: a global guide to citizens' rights and responsibilities, Macmillan Reference USA/Thomson Gale, 2006, p. 205.
2. "DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM A CHRONOLOGY AND TROOP LIST FOR THE 1990–1991 PERSIAN GULF CRISIS" (PDF). apps.dtic.mil. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
3. Miller, Judith. "Syria Plans to Double Gulf Force." The New York Times, 27 March 1991.
4. Haberman, Clyde; Times, Special To the New York (20 January 1991). "WAR IN THE GULF: Turkey; Turkey's Role in Air Assault Sets Off Fear of Retaliation (Published 1991)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
5. "Den 1. Golfkrig". Forsvaret.dk. 24 September 2010. Archived from the original on 12 January 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
6. Cimbala, Stephen J.; Forster, Peter (21 October 2005). The US, NATO and Military Burden-Sharing. Routledge. p. 135. ISBN 9781134251971 – via Google Books.
7. "Operation Deliberate Force". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
8. Olsen, John Andreas (15 July 2014). European Air Power: Challenges and Opportunities. Potomac Books, Inc. ISBN 9781612346816 – via Google Books.
9. "ISAF's mission in Afghanistan (2001-2014)". NATO. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
10. "Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan (2015-2021)". NATO. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
11. "Parliament OKs Turkey's Involvement in Libya". The Oakland Press. Ankara. Associated Press. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
12. "Stratfor: Turkey and Russia wage "full-blown proxy war" in Syria". Ahval. 17 January 2018.
13. "Assad, Iran support Kurdish forces against Turkey in Syria's Afrin with key weapon systems – reports". Al Masdar News. 9 February 2018. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
14. Comolli, Virginia (2015). Boko Haram: Nigeria's Islamist Insurgency. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 28, 103, 171.
15. Comolli (2015), pp. 28, 103, 171.