Erdogan to shut down military schools, rein in armed forces after failed coup

Turkey will shut down its military academies and put the armed forces under the command of the defence minister, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday in a move designed to bring the military under tighter government control after a failed coup.

The changes, some of which Erdogan said would likely be announced in the government's official gazette by Sunday, come after more than 1,700 military personnel were dishonorably discharged this week.

The purges have targeted those believed to be linked to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Ankara of masterminding the failed coup on 15 July, in which Mr Erdogan said 237 people were killed and more than 2,100 wounded. The dishonourable discharges included around 40% of Turkey's admirals and generals.

“Our armed forces will be much stronger with the latest decree we are preparing. Our force commanders will report to the defense minister,” Erdogan said in an interview on Saturday with A Haber, a private broadcaster.

“Military schools will be shut down... We will establish a national defence university.”

Mr Erdogan also said he wanted to introduce constitutional changes to bring the Turkish spy agency and military chief of staff directly under his control, moves that would require a constitutional change and therefore the backing of opposition parties.

Both the general staff and the intelligence agency now report to the prime minister's office. Putting them under the president's overall direction would be in line with Erdogan's push for a new constitution centred on a strong executive presidency.

Erdogan also said that a total of 10,137 people have been formally arrested following the coup.

Turkey accuses U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the putsch, in which a faction of the military commandeered tanks, helicopters and fighter jets and attempted to topple the government. Erdogan has said 237 people were killed and more than 2,100 wounded.

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, denies the charge and has condemned the coup.

Turkey's Western allies condemned the attempted putsch, but have been rattled by the scale of the resulting crackdown.

Earlier, the Turkish government cancelled the passports of around 50,000 people to prevent them leaving the country.

Efkan Ala, the interior minister, said more than 18,000 have so far been detained over the attempt to oust Mr Erdogan, while thousands of government staff are under investigation.

On Saturday, 56 employees of Turkey's constitutional court were suspended from their jobs as part of the investigation into the alleged coup, private broadcaster Haberturk TV reported.

Among those, more than 20 court reporters were detained, it reported.

The number of public sector workers removed from their posts since the coup attempt is now more than 66,000, including some 43,000 people in education, Anadolu reported on Friday.

Erdogan has said that Gulen harnessed his extensive network of schools, charities and businesses, built up in Turkey and abroad over decades, to create a "parallel state" that aimed to take over the country.

The president has faced criticism over the scale of the crackdown in the aftermath of the coup, which has seen the arrest, removal and suspension of more than 70,000 people, 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.