Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a new presidential decree on Sunday that introduced sweeping changes to Turkey’s military in the wake of a July 15 failed coup, bringing the armed forces further under civilian authority.
The decree, the third issued under a three-month state of emergency declared following the attempted coup, gives the President and Prime Minister the authority to issue direct orders to the commanders of the Army, Air Force and Navy.
It also announces the discharge of 1,389 military personnel, including Erdogan’s chief military adviser, who had been arrested days after the attempted coup, the Chief of General Staff’s charge d’affaires and the Defence Minister’s chief secretary.
It puts the military commands directly under the Defence Ministry, puts all military hospitals under the authority of the Health Ministry instead of the military, and also expands the Supreme Military Council, the body that makes decisions on military affairs and appointments, to include Turkey’s Deputy Prime Ministers and its justice, Foreign and Interior Ministers.
The document, published in the official gazette, also shuts down all military schools, academies and non-commissioned officer training
institutes and establishes a new national Defence university to train officers.