Erdogan had been on vacation during the July 15 coup.
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According to the gazette, 1,389 military personnel were dismissed for suspected links to Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Turkey of orchestrating the failed coup.
Sunday’s decree gives the president and prime minister the authority to issue direct orders to the commanders of the army, air force and navy.
Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile since the late 1990s, has denied any involvement or prior knowledge of the coup. The rally came amid tensions among Turks following the coup attempt and concern in Germany over the scale of the Turkish government’s subsequent crackdown on those it says are linked to a USA -based cleric it blames for the coup attempt.
“We are here because our compatriots in Germany are standing up for democracy and against the attempted military coup in Turkey”, said Turkey’s Sports Minister Akif Cagatay Kilic at the rally, Tagesspiegel daily reported.
Demonstrators chanted “Turkey” and waved national red flags as 2,700 officers were deployed at the rally, which was organized by the Union of European-Turkish Democrats.
Interior Minister Efkan Ala said more than 18,000 people had been detained over the failed coup, and 50,000 passports had been cancelled.
Tens of thousands of people have been detained or dismissed or suspended from roles in the military, judiciary, civil service and education. Putting them under the president’s overall direction would be in line with Mr Erdogan’s push for a new constitution centred on a strong executive presidency.
Military hospitals are to come under the control of the health ministry, subject to proposals being approved by parliament, where they will need a two-thirds majority to be passed. Turkey has demanded the speedy extradition of Gulen from the United States, but Washington has asked for evidence he was involved in the attempted coup and says the U.S. extradition process must be allowed to take its course.
Germany’s highest court rejected a bid Saturday night to reverse local judges’ ruling that a screen at the event couldn’t be used to show addresses from outside speakers – a decision that Turkey says prevented an address by Erdogan.
Mr Erdogan has said Mr Gulen harnessed his extensive network of schools, charities and businesses, built up in Turkey and overseas over decades, to create a “parallel state” that aimed to take over the country.
Germany is home to around 3 million people of Turkish descent with widely varying political opinions.
Police said shortly before the rally began that some 10,000 people had arrived at the riverside site, across the Rhine from downtown Cologne.
Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20, just days after a group of rogue military officers were defeated in their July 15 coup attempt.
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A senior Turkish official says the ban violates freedom of expression.
