Turkey’s top military commanders will decide Thursday on one of the most radical shake-ups in the history of the country’s armed forces, as authorities shut down dozens of media outlets in a widening crackdown after a failed coup.
The government ordered the closure of a total of 131 newspapers, TV channels and other media outlets as well as the discharge of 149 generals — nearly half the armed forces’ entire contingent of 358 — for complicity in the putsch bid.
The July 15 rebellion, which saw plotters bomb Ankara from war planes and wreak havoc with tanks on the streets of Istanbul in a bid to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has sparked a backlash affecting all aspects of Turkish life.
So far almost 16,000 people have been detained in a crackdown — the magnitude of which had caused international alarm.
The hastily convened meeting of the Supreme Military Council (YAS) in Ankara will bring together Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and the land, sea and air force commanders, along with other top figures untarnished by the attempted power grab.
Eighty-seven land army generals, 30 air force generals, and 32 admirals have been dishonourably discharged over their complicity, a Turkish official said, confirming a government decree.
In addition, 1,099 officers and 436 junior officers have received a dishonourable discharge, according to the decree.
Waning power –
The council is due to start at 0800 GMT after paying homage to Turkey’s modern founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk at his mausoleum.
It will decide on the personnel changes required after the coup, with lower-ranking officers expected to be fast-tracked to fill gaps in top positions.
In a symbol of the military’s waning power, the meeting will be held at the Cankaya Palace of the Turkish premier in Ankara and not, as is customary, at military headquarters.
In the wake of the coup the military has already lost control of the coastguard and gendarmerie, which will now be the responsibility of the interior ministry.
The army said Wednesday that 8,651 of its military personnel had been involved in the rebellion — 1.5 percent of its total number — along with 35 planes, 37 helicopters, 74 tanks and three ships.
The military has insisted that only a tiny proportion of the total armed forces — which number around three quarters of a million, the second-largest in NATO, after the United States — participated.
But 178 generals have been detained, with 151 of them already remanded in custody.
Erdogan, who survived the biggest threat to his 13-year domination of the country when supporters countered the plotters on the streets, has blamed the attempted overthrow on US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen.
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