Compare armed forces

Alliance builder

Military power of Turkey & European Union EU

Turkey flag svg European Union EU flag svg

Turkey vs European Union EU

Show map
Turkey European Union EU

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.

More about Turkey military

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.

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

Military expenditures

small flag TR TR small flag EU EU
Military budget: 15.8 billion $ 295.8 billion $
Percent of GDP: 1.5% 0%

Military budget

small flag TR small flag EU
Highest value in the world: 916 billion $ (USA)
More

Manpower

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

Active

small flag TR small flag EU
Highest value in the world: 2,035,000 (China)
More

Land Forces

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

Tanks

tank svg
small flag small flag
Highest value in the world: 12,267 (Russia)
More

Air Forces

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

Total aircraft

airplane svg
small flag small flag
Highest value in the world: 13,175 (USA)
More

Navy

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

Total naval

ship svg
small flag small flag
Highest value in the world: 967 (North Korea)
More

Nuclear weapons

Turkey

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

European Union EU

Data not available

Military service

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.

European Union EU

Data not available