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Military power of European Union EU & Turkey

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European Union EU vs Turkey

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European Union EU Turkey

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union countries that are located in Europe with an area of 4,233,255 km2 The capital of Ukraine is Brussels. The number of inhabitants estimated is about 447 million. Members of EU: Germany, Latvia, France, Lithuania, Estonia, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Sweden, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

The European Union were not devised as a military alliance because most of the members are in the North Atlantic Alliance. Since the withdrawal of the UK, France is the only member recognised as a nuclear weapon state. Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium participate in NATO nuclear sharing.

Turkey is a country located in Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe) with an area of 783,562 km2 (land boundries: 2,816 km and costline 7,200 km). The capital of Turkey is Ankara. The number of inhabitants is 83,614,362.

Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952 and hosts NATO's Land Forces Command in Izmir. Under a long-range strategic plan, the Turkish Armed Forces continued efforts to modernize its equipment and force structure. The Turkish Armed Forces inventory is mostly comprised of a mix of domestically-produced and Western weapons systems. In 2019 Turkey purchased the Russian S-400 air defense system. That complicated its relationship with NATO. Turkey has a strong defense industry capable of producing a range of weapons systems for both export and internal use.

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If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com

Military expenditures

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Military budget: 295.8 billion $ 15.8 billion $
Percent of GDP: 0% 1.5%

Military budget

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Highest value in the world: 916 billion $ (USA)
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Manpower

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Active personnel: 1,277,969 425,000
Reserve personnel: 1,687,132 200,000
Available for military: 92,594,951 21,079,077

Active

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Highest value in the world: 2,035,000 (China)
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Land Forces

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Tanks: 4,244 2,203
Armoured fighting vehicles: 29,656 9,323
Total artillery: 6,056 3,103
Self-propelled artillery: 1,856 1,034
Rocket artillery: 674 322

Tanks

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Highest value in the world: 12,267 (Russia)
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Air Forces

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Total aircraft: 5,350 1,408
Fighter aircraft: 415 19
Multirole aircraft: 883 234
Attack aircraft: 142 0
Helicopters: 2,336 349
UCAV (combat drone): 68 443

Total aircraft

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Highest value in the world: 13,175 (USA)
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Navy

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Total naval: 1,306 191
Aircraftcarriers: 7 1
Destroyers: 18 0
Frigates: 69 17
Corvettes: 23 9
Submarines: 48 12

Total naval

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Highest value in the world: 967 (North Korea)
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Nuclear weapons

European Union EU

Data not available

Turkey

Turkey participates in the NATO nuclear weapons sharing arrangements and trains for delivering United States nuclear warheads.

Military service

European Union EU

Data not available

Turkey

21-41 years of age for male compulsory military service; 18 years of age for voluntary service; 12 months conscript obligation for non-university graduates, 6-12 months for university graduates (graduates of higher education may perform 6 months of military service as short-term privates, or 12 months as reserve officers); conscripts are called to register at age 20, for service at 21; women serve in the Turkish Armed Forces only as officers; reserve obligation to age 41; Turkish citizens with a residence or work permit who have worked abroad for at least 3 years (1095 days) can be exempt from military service in exchange for 6,000 EUR or its equivalent in foreign currencies; a law passed in December 2014 introduced a one-time payment scheme which exempted Turkish citizens 27 and older from conscription in exchange for a payment of $8,150.