Binali Yildirim, the prime minister, was set to chair a meeting of the Supreme Military Council yesterday, where he was expected to signal more dismissals as part of a major shake-up within the country’s armed forces.
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The decisions came after Turkey discharged almost 1,700 officers, including 149 generals and admirals, suspected of involvement in the July 15 attempted coup.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey has succeeded in eradicating all elements linked to Gulen from the military after sacking almost half of its generals following the failed coup.
The purges have targeted supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of masterminding the July 15-16 failed coup.
Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania but whose movement has a wide following in Turkey where it runs a large network of schools, has denied any involvement in the failed putsch.
Investigations into people’s relations with the Gulen movement, “the financial support they provided and their participation in other activities are continuing”, the minister said. Of those, more than 3,500 have since been released, a senior government official said.
Also ordered shut were Zaman and Today’s Zaman, its English-language publication.
Sir, – With reference to your fine editorial (July 27th) on the disturbing developments in Turkey, one does not need to be a conspiracy theorist to note the astonishing alacrity with which a list of 30,000 “terrorist” suspects was compiled in the immediate aftermath of the coup, and those suspects promptly arrested.
Detentions and arrests have not been limited to mainstream media, with several people in the last week having detention or arrest warrants issued against them on charges of insulting the president or praising the coup on social media, according to Anadolu.
Turkey says the attempted coup was instigated by Fethullah Gulen.
The military council meeting had been scheduled for early August but was brought forward following the coup attempt.
Late Wednesday, the government issued a decree that removed the paramilitary police force and the coast guard from military command and placed them under the control of the Interior Ministry.
Separately, a total of 131 newspapers, TV channels and other media outlets were being shut down under the three-month state of emergency declared in the wake of the coup. His movement, known as Hizmet, or “Service” in Turkish, set up hundreds of schools and businesses in Turkey and later overseas.
Speaking at the presidential palace in Ankara, he rejected criticism by the European Union and the United States of the ongoing crackdown against suspected accomplices in the abortive coup.
Tourism, a pillar of the economy, has been badly hit by a series of deadly bombings in Turkey, including one at Istanbul’s airport in June that killed 45 people, and by tensions with Russian Federation.
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The HDP, parliament’s third-biggest party, denies direct links with the autonomy-seeking PKK and promotes a negotiated end to the 32-year insurgency that has killed 40,000 people.
