Burhanettin Bigalı

{{Short description|Turkish general}}

{{Infobox Politician

| name =Burhanettin Bigalı

| image =

| imagesize = 200px

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth year|1927}}

| birth_place = Istanbul

| death_date = 17 September {{death year and age|2016|1927}}

| office = General Commander of the Gendarmerie of Turkey

| term_start = 23 August 1988

| term_end = 30 August 1990

| predecessor = Adnan Doğu

| successor = Eşref Bitlis

| office1 = Head of the National Intelligence Organization

| term_start1 = 7 September 1981

| term_end1 = 14 August 1986kimkimdir.gen.tr, [http://www.kimkimdir.gen.tr/kimkimdir.php?id=3634 Korg. Burhanettin Bigalı (1927 - .... )]

| predecessor1 = Bülent Türker

| successor1 = Hayri Ündül

| alma_mater =

| religion =

| party =

| spouse =

| children =

|nickname =

|allegiance = Turkey

|branch = Turkish Army

|serviceyears = 1948–1990

|rank = 20pxGeneral

|unit = Infantry

|commands =

|battles = Korean War

|awards =

}}

Burhanettin Bigalı (1927 – 17 September 2016) was a Turkish general; he retired in 1990. He was head of the National Intelligence Organization (1981 - 1986) and later General Commander of the Gendarmerie of Turkey (1988 - 1990).

He was born in 1927 in Dereköy, Çanakkale, Biga. He belongs to the Chundyshk (Цундышк) dynasty of the Circassians.{{cite book |author1=Ferhatko Şıble |title=Batı Çerkesya'nın Türkiye'deki Evlatları |date=2022 |publisher=Apra Yayıncılık |location=Istanbul |isbn=978-605-71993-1-7 |page=29 |language=tr}}

Arif Doğan has claimed in court that he founded the Gendarmerie's JITEM intelligence unit in the late 1980s on the orders of Bigalı, with the approval of the Chief of Staff and of the Interior Ministry.Hurriyet Daily News, 14 October 2010, [http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-dailies-leak-contradictory-testimony-from-retired-colonel.aspx?pageID=438&n=8216military-and-interior-ministry-approved-jitem8217-says-self-claimed-founder-14 October 2010 Turkish dailies leak contradictory testimony from retired colonel]