NATO congratulates first Turkish woman admiral Gökçen Fırat

NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) congratulated Gokcen Firat on Thursday after she was promoted to rear admiral, making her the first woman in the history of the Turkish Navy to hold the rank.

Firat, who is currently serving with MARCOM in the UK as the assistant chief of staff for operations, has been promoted to rear admiral following a meeting of Türkiye's Supreme Military Council on Aug. 3.

"Her position is critical to the success of maritime operations and exercises across the Alliance, including the participation of four NATO standing naval forces in major multinational taskings," MARCOM said in a statement.

Before moving to MARCOM last year, Firat served in NATO’s Joint Warfare Center in Norway.

"Being promoted to the admiralship is one of the highest levels of achievement for any navy officer to reach in their career," she said.

"I am very glad to reach this objective.”