Turkish army to start normalization as of June 1: Defense minister

Turkey's defense minister has said normalization in the military will begin June 1 which will include resuming conscription and military discharge, which had been suspended due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking to private NTV broadcaster on May 15, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar also said that the recruitment of paid soldiers will restart as of June 20 and the discharges will resume as of May 31. He stated that those who will be recruited will also be tested for the coronavirus and those who will be discharged will be kept under monitoring during their last 14 days. Military service summons will start as of June 5, Akar added.

"Staff recruitment, appointment postponement, and education in schools were postponed. We will launch them as of June 1. We are starting normalization work as of June 1," he stated.

Elaborating on cross-border operations in northern Iraq and Syria, the minister emphasized that they continued in the same way as months ago and there was no slow down during the outbreak. The cease-fire in northern Syria is preserved despite minor violations, Akar noted.

A total of 1,392 terrorists were "neutralized" since Jan. 1 as part of the fight against terrorism, he stated.

The minister stated that there were no COVID-19 cases among Turkey's cross-border operation troops. "There are no cases of the coronavirus in the operation areas. We worked with colleagues regarding the normalization plan in the Turkish Armed Forces. One of the most important elements here was that the operations were not stopped. We also managed it," he said.

The Turkish army's "consultation" mission in Libya continues and there are no Turkish soldier casualties, the minister added.