After graduating from the Infantry School in 1963, he served in different units of the Turkish Army as a platoon and commando company commander until 1970.

He was buried at Karacaahmet Cemetery following a memorial ceremony held at the headquarters of the First Army and the religious funeral service at Big Selimiye Mosque.

[8] The Turkish military published a statement on 27 April 2007, two days before the second Republic Protest, as the 2007 presidential election was ongoing.

This statement, later called the "E-memorandum", warned against Islamic fundamentalism, which was alleged to pose a threat to the secular Republican nature of the Turkish state.

[9] Later, Büyükanıt held a 2.5 hours long secretive meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 5 May 2007 at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul.