Almost 1,700 military personnel received dishonorable discharges over their alleged role in the July 15-16 putsch, including around 40 percent of Turkey’s admirals and generals.
Advertisement
Among the limited changes in the most senior commanders, the deputy armed forces chief General Yasar Guler was appointed commander of Turkey’s gendarmerie force, while the head of the prestigious First Army, General Umit Dundar, replaced him as Akar’s second-in-command, the presidential spokesman said.
Cook echoed Votel’s comments, saying the key point is that “we have excellent military-to-military cooperation, have had for some time with the Turkish military”.
Since the failed coup attempt, over 16 000 people, including soldiers, judges, prosecutors and civil service workers, have been detained.
Erdogan at a speech Friday criticized Gen. Joseph Votel, the top USA commander for the Middle East, who noted that some Turkish military leaders whom the US had relationships with have been jailed in the wake of the attempted coup.
Almost 70,000 people in Turkey have been suspended or dismissed from their jobs, according to the latest figures cited by the state-run Anadolu news agency, affecting workers in the judiciary, the education system, media, health care and other sectors. “Very few have given us clear support against the coup”.
Turkey is expecting the Kazakh government to take urgent measures regarding schools related to opposition activist Fethullah Gulen.
The source said those arrested were accused of being members of and supporting the Gülenist Terror Organization, which the government has said was behind the coup bid, which led to at least 246 deaths.
The United States and European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, have both urged Ankara to exercise restraint in its crackdown on suspected Gulen supporters and to ensure those arrested have a fair trial. The Turkish government has said that it would take over operations of all the abandoned charities which include educational institutions and medical facilities.
A total of 49,211 people have had their passports revoked, according to the interior minister.
Kretschmann said he has seen no evidence to back Turkey’s assertion that the Gulen movement was responsible for the coup attempt or that Islamization is taking place at schools in Germany. The state has also shut 142 media outlets and detained several journalists. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced Thursday that 88 employees of his ministry have lost their jobs, including two ambassadors.
Efforts were continuing to detain former chairman Haci Boydak as well as Ilyas and Bekir Boydak for whom warrants have also been issued.
“We need to make a distinction between those who cooperate with those who carried out the coup, those who supported it, and the real journalists”, he said.
Advertisement
The council, which determines promotions and retirements, met for five hours Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
