Osman Erbaş

Lieutenant General Osman Erbaş (20 March 1962 – 4 March 2021) was a Turkish army officer. He was a keen proponent of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by the Turkish Army in anti-terrorism operations. In 2015 he was appointed commander of the 6th Mechanized Infantry Division and ordered his officers to remain loyal during the 15 July 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt. Erbaş later testified as a witness at the trial of soldiers accused of joining the coup attempt. In 2017 he was appointed to command 8th Corps and while serving in this role was killed in a helicopter crash in 2021.

Early career Osman Erbaş was born in Saray village in the Yerköy district of Yozgat Province, Turkey on 20 March 1962. He was the only son in his family and left his home at the age of 17. Erbaş graduated from the Turkish Military Academy (Kara Harp Okulu) in 1983, the Army War College (Kara Harp Akademisi) in 1997 and the Armed Forces College (Silahlı Kuvvetler Akademisi) in 2000.

In 2015, Erbaş was appointed commander of the 6th Mechanized Infantry Division (the former 6th Corps (Turkey)). He was in this role during the 15 July 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt and gave orders to his subordinates to resist the attempt. He afterwards attended ceremonies for those men of the security services who were killed in the coup attempt, stating that their killers "are not soldiers", but "murderers".

Erbaş was promoted to lieutenant general in 2016 and appointed commander of 8th Corps in 2017.