Erdogan, who narrowly escaped capture and possible death on the night of the coup, told Reuters in an interview last week that the military, NATO’S second biggest, needed “fresh blood”.
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The news comes on the heels of dozens of individual journalists being issued arrest warrents amid the sweeping crackdown following the country’s failed coup.
Two top Turkish Land Forces commanders requested early retirement just ahead of Thursday’s Supreme Military Council (YAS) meeting, a military source said.
While close to 17-hundred officers have been formally discharged from the military. A senior Turkish official described the purges as “dishonorable discharge”.
Separately, Turkey’s biggest petrochemicals company Petkim said its chief executive had resigned and the state-run news agency Anadolu said he had been detained in connection with the failed coup.
The government says US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind the army-led attempted coup – a claim he denies.
Almost 16,000 people were detained over suspected links to the failed uprising, and about half of them were formally arrested to face trial. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced Thursday that 88 employees of his ministry have lost their jobs, including two ambassadors.
The government has also chose to close down dozens of media organisations, including 45 newspapers and 16 television stations, the Anadolu Agency added. Turkey has branded Gulen’s movement a terrorist organization and wants the cleric extradited.
Turkey’s post-coup purge has raised concerns throughout Europe.
The military Council meeting was originally scheduled for the first week of August but was brought forward following the coup attempt.
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In a symbol of the military’s waning power, the meeting was held at the Cankaya Palace, the prime minister’s official residence in Ankara and not, as is customary, at military headquarters.
