In order for the decree to become law, Erdogan will have to gain the support of opposition parties in order to pass new constitutional amendments broadening his presidential power.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says from now on all military commanders will report directly to the country’s defense minister and that all military academies will be closed.
Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, denies the charge and has condemned the coup.
And another 1,700 military personnel have been expelled – dishonorably discharged – since July 15, when a faction of the military commandeered tanks, helicopters and fighter jets and attempted to take over the government.
Clashes during the short-lived coup bid killed more than 235 people and wounded almost 10 times that many, but the major impact of the attempt to remove Erdogan has been the wave of detentions, firings and suspensions.
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”.
The aggressive purges come when the military is stretched by heavy fighting with Kurdish insurgents in southeast Turkey and threats from Islamic State militants on its border with Syria. According to Cook, Votel was actually referring to the fact that the U.S.is engaged in active operations with Turkey and some of the officers that the US military personnel were working with are no longer on their posts, which might affect the effectiveness of the operations. The NATO ally’s Incirlik Air Base houses USA refueling and attack aircraft used in the counter-IS campaign.
The Turkish president told the West to “mind your own business” after many raised eyebrows over the crackdown against suspects of the coup on July 15. Saadet, as well as others, didn’t give her full name because she feared another coup attempt was being plotted and she would eventually be jailed for her comments. “We are not seeing anything like that”.
Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak said this week that Ankara had already prepared lists of suspected Gulenists in major institutions before the coup and had been planning a major purge this summer. Washington says it would only do so if it had has clear evidence.
“We are going to make our armed forces stronger and we are going to work towards making this country more secure”, he said.
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.
Turkey has also targeted journalists accused of links to Gulen, causing further global alarm.
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.
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German politicians led by Chancellor Angela Merkel have issued strongly worded statements against Erdogan’s crackdown following the putsch – with more than 16,000 soldiers, police, judges, prosecutors and journalists detained.
