Turkish Armed Forces

A total of 20,088 people, including soldiers and military students, have been dismissed from the army in line with the ongoing investigation into the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), Defense Minister Fikri Işık has stated.

The restructuring of the Turkish military in the wake of the July 15 failed coup attempt could create more problems than it solves, according to Nihat Ali Özcan, an academic an a retired major.

"Efforts to restructure the army should be done taking into account the army's functions," Özcan told the Hürriyet Daily News.

It was difficult to grasp the issue at first. At the recent annual meeting of the Turkish-American Council held at one of Ritz Carlton's meeting rooms in Washington D.C., after a panel on defense cooperation, a State Department official approached a Turkish military official to say there had been a mistake and they would solve it. The Turkish official replied kindly.

The Turkish military had a long list of high-ranking soldiers linked to the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen two weeks before the July 15 attempted coup, former gendarmerie commander Galip Mendi has told a parliamentary panel formed to investigate the failed attempt. 

Turkey's military academy will resume student admissions in February 2017, following a halt after the failed July 15 coup attempt.

The academic year will kick off in February 2017 primarily for the air force academy, according to an official from the Defense Ministry who wanted to remain anonymous. 

Former chief of General Staff Gen. Işık Koşaner has said the reason behind his 2011 resignation was to avoid pressure from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to make him appoint and retire army officers who were, at the time, suspected of planning to overthrow the government. 

Former chief of General Staff Gen. Işık Koşaner has said the reason behind his 2011 resignation was to avoid pressure from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to make him appoint and retire army officers who were, at the time, suspected of planning to overthrow the government. 

Turkey's defense and aerospace industry will shift from its current foreign computer operating system to an existing Linux-based national software in light of security needs and license costs, according to the head of the state defense firm which has undertaken the project.

Nine Turkish Air Force jet pilots who were detained and then released as part of probes against Gülenists were re-assigned and are participating in aerial operations after the military said it was experiencing a personnel deficit due to major suspensions in the institution.   

An Istanbul court ordered the release of three generals and an admiral early on Oct. 14, marking the first release of high-ranking soldiers as part of the ongoing investigation into the failed coup attempt of July 15.