The Order of the State of Republic of Turkey () is the highest state order awarded to foreign nationals by the President of the Republic of Turkey.
The Order of the State is conferred by the President, upon the decision of the Council of Ministers, to heads of state, presidents, and members of royal families in recognition of their contributions for enhancing the amicable relations between their respective countries and Turkey. The "Regulation on State Awards and Medals" (numbered 19892) was prepared and entered in the Official Gazette on 7 August 1988.
Characteristics The medal of the Order of the Republic of Turkey has a diameter of 8.9 cm. Composed of gold and silver, there is 18 carat green gold in the hexagonal center, a white enamel crescent and star on a red background, and a pencil application on six crescents around it. There are a total of seven swords, four long and three short, with white and red metal applications from the middle of the crescents and six white and red star enamels at the ends of these swords. 18-carat green gold is used in the stars.
The badge is a horizontal rectangle and measures . There is a silver frame pen application around it, a Turkish flag motif on the ground, and a rhodium-plated crescent and star enamel in white and red in the middle. The order consists of 61.5 grams of silver (925 sterling silver) and 5.4 grams of gold (750 mil gold). The rosette is 7.15 grams (925 sterling silver).
On 5 November 2013, with the regulation issued by the Justice and Development Party and approved by the President Abdullah Gül and published in the Official Gazette, the Mustafa Kemal Atatürk silhouette on the front of the state badge and the caption of "Turkish Republic Order of the State" on the back were removed. The Public Workers Unions Confederation of Turkey (Kamu-Sen) sued the State Council at the request of a stay of implementation and cancellation. In October 2016, the Council of State gave the cancellation of the missing regulation part of the state medal decision in the 6th article of the State Medals and Insignia Regulation, without including the "Atatürk Relief". The Prime Ministry appealed the decision. On 10 October 2018, a higher court of the Council of State, the Board of Trial Chambers, "emphasizing that Atatürk is the immortal leader", approved the decision of the lower court by majority vote and canceled the regulated part.
Ceremony The Order of the State is given to the awardee together with the certificate and badge by the President of Turkey or a person appointed by the President at a ceremony. If the awardee is deceased (and the award has not been delegated to an heir), it is given to a son, starting from the eldest; to a daughter if there are no sons; to the father if there are no children; to the mother if there is no father; or to the spouse if there is no mother. In the absence of a spouse, it is transferred to the awardee's legal heirs in accordance with the provisions of the Turkish Civil Code.
The ceremony follows certain protocol and procedures. It starts with the National Anthem of Turkey and then decision regarding the aiming parties is read. Then, the award presenter faces each recipient and attaches their medal, awards their badges and certificates, and congratulates them. Recipients stand at intervals from the right, separately for each medal and decoration group. The order of the groups is arranged according to the priority order of the awards or medal in the law, the priority of the persons according to state protocol for public officials, and the surname (for private persons).
Statistics
The order was first given to Lech Wałęsa, the second president of Poland, by President Süleyman Demirel in 1994. Demirel awarded the honor to the heads of state of 12 countries during his tenure. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer awarded the order only to the first president of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel. No order was given between 2001–2006. After President Abdullah Gül took office, the state order was given again beginning with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan awarded the order to King Philippe I of Belgium, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, Emir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah, and Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. Azerbaijan, Poland, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are the only countries to have received the order twice. In total, 35 people have been awarded the Order of the State.
Recipients of the Order of State YearCountryNameTitle Conferred byRef.11994Lech Wałęsa President of PolandSüleyman Demirel 21997Heydar Aliyev President of Azerbaijan3Alija Izetbegović Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina41998Hosni Mubarak President of Egypt51999Franjo Tuđman President of Croatia6Eduard Shevardnadze President of Georgia7Emil Constantinescu President of Romania8Bill Clinton President of the United States 9Martti Ahtisaari President of Finland102000Johannes Rau President of Germany11Aleksander Kwaśniewski President of Poland12Jiang Zemin General Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyPresident of China13Václav Havel President of the Czech RepublicAhmet Necdet Sezer 142007Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz King of Saudi ArabiaAbdullah Gül 152008Elizabeth II Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realm nations162009Aníbal Cavaco Silva President of Portugal 17Nursultan Nazarbayev President of Kazakhstan18Giorgio Napolitano President of Italy192011Asif Ali Zardari President of Pakistan202012Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow President of Turkmenistan21Beatrix Queen of the Netherlands222013Carl XVI Gustaf King of Sweden23Harald V King of Norway24Ilham Aliyev President of Azerbaijan25Henri Grand Duke of Luxembourg262015Philippe King of BelgiumRecep Tayyip Erdoğan 272016Salman bin Abdul Aziz King of Saudi Arabia282017Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Emir of Kuwait29Beji Caid Essebsi President of Tunisia302022Al-Sultan Abdullah Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia312024Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Emir of Kuwait32Shavkat Mirziyoyev President of Uzbekistan33Haitham bin Tariq Sultan of Oman342025Kassym-Jomart Tokayev President of Kazakhstan352026Abdelmadjid Tebboune President of Algeria
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