The Police Special Operations Department () or Police Special Action (), abbreviated as PÃÂH, is a police tactical unit of the General Directorate of Security in Turkey.
The PÃÂH was founded in 1983 as "Special Operations Office" (), under the command of Department of Public Security.
In larger cities like Ankara, Istanbul, and ðzmir, "Special Operations Group Authorities "() were organized in the same year.
As a result of changing conditions, in 1987, the office was transferred to the Anti-Terrorism and Operations Department under the name "Special Operations Branch" ().
In 1993, the Special Operations Branch was promoted to a department and gained its current structuring.
ðbrahim à Âahin was head of the Department until being forced to resign in 1996 over the Susurluk scandal. Ayhan ÃÂarkñn was a notable member of the department in the 1990s.
The force consists of 22,000 personnel, more than a thousand of whom are women.
It is also deployed as part of the Turkish occupation of northern Syria.
To qualify for PÃÂH, an applicant must:
In addition, a training simulation called TAKSðS is conducted by TÃÂBðTAK.
After 6 months of training, the applicant will receive a certificate officially identifying himself as an operator of PÃÂH.
Police Special Operation Department is one of a handful of security forces in the world which employs active front line female squad members in combat operations.