Syria: The first test of Turkey's new commanders

The latest Supreme Military Board (YAŞ) meeting determined the new commanders of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). The land, naval and air force commanders were reshuffled. Even if it is not included under the structure of YAŞ, the Gendarmerie commander is also changing as a natural result.

I had written that the fight against both the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) shaped the decisions when the promotions within YAŞ were reviewed on Friday.

Objections from some commanders

There were objections to the appointments from some commanders. They drew attention to the fact that some generals who resisted against the coup soldiers on the night of July 15 were retired.

When I looked at the list of generals and admirals, I saw names of those like Major General Mehmet Okkan, who was appointed head of the department of the Chief of Staff operations by Defense Minister Fikri Işık after the July 15 coup attempt, who had resisted against the coup attempt and had been victims of plot cases in the past.

While expecting him to become the naval commander, Admiral Veysel Kösele was retired and had refuted claims that he did not provide a sufficient struggle against FETÖ. A retired admiral who knows Kösele had defended him in an electronic message saying Kösele had fought against FETÖ during his admiralty.

The hint in Erdoğan's speech

The YAŞ decisions became clear and were left behind. Now, we need to look at what the government expects from the generals who have been appointed to the military command ships.

While I had written in the title that Syria would be the first test of the new commanders, I started out by writing...