Dr. (R) Lieutenant General Tahir BEKİROĞLU

Dr. (R) Lieutenant General Tahir Bekiroğlu is an expert in security, defense, peacekeeping operations, civil-military cooperation (CIMIC), counter-terrorism, concept/doctrine/strategy development, NATO, and political science, with a focus on the interaction between domestic and foreign policies. Over a distinguished 38-year military career, he held various command and staff roles across multiple ranks and levels, gaining extensive field and international expertise.

He graduated from the Electrical and Electronics Engineering program at the Military Academy (Kara Harp Okulu, Ankara) in 1979. He earned two Master’s degrees: one in International Relations from the Land Forces Military Academy (Istanbul) in 1989, and another in Business Administration from Bowie State University (Maryland, USA) in 1996, completed while stationed in Naples, Italy. In 2023, he received his PhD in Political Science from Başkent University (Ankara) with a thesis titled "Türkiye's Northern Iraq Policy From The Neoclassical Realist Perspective (2002-2017)."

During his career, Dr. Bekiroğlu served in several key NATO roles. He worked as an intelligence analyst for three years at the Joint NATO Headquarters in Naples (Italy) and as a civil-military cooperation officer at the NATO Stabilization Force (SFOR) Headquarters in Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) for one year. He also served as Head of the Turkish Military Representative Delegation at the NATO Military Committee in Brussels (Belgium) with the rank of lieutenant general (2011–2013).

Following his NATO assignments, he held significant leadership roles within the Turkish Armed Forces, including Commander of the 5th Corps (Çorlu), War Academies Commander (Istanbul), and Land Forces Training and Doctrine Commander (Ankara). He retired with the rank of lieutenant general, leaving behind a legacy of strategic and operational excellence.