President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said he wanted to introduce constitutional changes to bring the Turkish spy agency and military chief of staff directly under his control as he seeks to tighten his grip on the country after the failed coup.
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You are taking the side of coup plotters instead of thanking this state for defeating the coup attempt.
“Any reporting that I had anything to do with the recent unsuccessful coup attempt in Turkey is unfortunate and completely inaccurate”, Votel said in his statement.
On Thursday, 99 colonels were promoted to the rank of general or admiral, following the dishonourable discharge of almost 1,700 military personnel over their alleged roles in the coup. “Our force commanders will report to the defence minister”, Erdogan said in an interview yesterday with A Haber, a private broadcaster.
Erdogan vowed to take all steps “within the limits of the law” as Turkey seeks legal retribution for the perpetrators of the coup.
A judge ruled that their detention was unnecessary; 231 conscripts remain in detention.
Turkey’s military is already stretched, given the violence in the mainly Kurdish southeast, and threats from Islamic State attacks on its border with Syria.
The president also announced that as a gesture of goodwill after the coup he was dropping hundreds of lawsuits against individuals accused of insulting him.
President Erdogan said on Friday: “It’s not up to you to make that decision”.
Erdogan spoke Friday night at an event in the Turkish capital, Ankara, commemorating those killed and wounded during a failed July 15 military coup.
About 2,000 people were facing the charges authorities said earlier this year, according to BBC.
It accuses him of being behind the coup attempt, something he denies.
The United States has repeatedly condemned the failed coup in Turkey and it continues to convey its absolute support for Turkey’s democratically elected civilian government and democratic institutions, Cook emphasized.
Turkey has detained more than 18,000 people over the coup which Ankara blames on the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, with the relentless crackdown sparking warnings from Brussels that its European Union membership bid may be in danger. Military high school students were among those freed.
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More than 66,000 public sector workers have been dismissed from their posts and 50,000 passports cancelled, while the labour ministry is investigating 1,300 of its staff. The state has also shut 142 media outlets and detained several journalists.
