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Turkey's Erdogan to close military schools, rein in armed forces

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

The changes come after more than 1700 military personnel were dishonourably discharged for their role in the abortive July 15-16 putsch.

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Erdogan's shakeup in Turkey

President Tayyip Erdogan angrily rejects Western criticism of purges underway in Turkey's military and other state institutions after a failed coup.

Mr Erdogan, who is said to have narrowly escaped capture and possible death on the night of the attempted coup, said last week the military, NATO's second-largest, needed "fresh blood". The dishonourable discharges included about 40 per cent of Turkey's admirals and generals.

Turkey accuses US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the putsch. Mr Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the US for years, denies the charge and has condemned the coup. So far, more than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and schools have been either detained, removed or suspended over suspected links with Mr Gulen.

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

In a speech at the weekend, Mr Erdogan suggested Mr Gulen was a pawn backed by a "mastermind", widely seen as an allusion to the West in general and the US more specifically.

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The US has denied any involvement and any prior knowledge of the failed attempt to overthrow the government.

"Our armed forces will be much stronger with the latest decree we are preparing," Mr Erdogan said in an interview with A Haber, a private broadcaster. "Our force commanders will report to the defence minister.

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

He said he wanted the national intelligence agency and the chief of general staff, the most senior military officer, to report directly to the presidency, 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 Mr Erdogan's push for a new constitution centred on a strong executive presidency.

Mr Erdogan said 10,137 people had been formally arrested since the attempted coup.

Military stretched

The shake-up comes as Turkey's military – long seen as the guardians of the secular republic – is already stretched by violence in the mainly Kurdish south-east and Islamic State attacks on its border with Syria.

The army killed 35 Kurdish militants after they tried to storm a base in the south-eastern Hakkari province early on Saturday, military officials said.

Mr Erdogan said it was "shameful" that Western countries showed more interest in the fate of the plotters than in standing with a fellow NATO member and upbraided Western leaders for not visiting after the putsch. 

In an unexpected move, he said late on Friday that, as a one-off gesture, he would drop all lawsuits filed against people for insulting him. He said the decision was triggered by feelings of "unity" against the coup attempt.

It could also be aimed at silencing his Western critics. Prosecutors had opened more than 1800 cases against people for insulting Mr Erdogan since he became president in 2014, the justice minister said earlier this year. Those targeted included journalists, cartoonists and even children.

European Union leaders worry that their differences with Mr Erdogan may prompt him to retaliate and put an end to a historic deal, agreed in March, to stem the wave of migrants to Europe.

"The success of the pact so far is fragile," European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker told Austria's Kurier newspaper when asked if the pact could fall apart. "President Erdogan has several times hinted he wants to terminate the agreement."

​On Saturday, 56 employees of Turkey's constitutional court were suspended from their jobs as part of the investigation into the attempted 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 about 43,000 people in education, Anadolu reported on Friday.

Interior Minister Efkan Ala said more than 18,000 people had been detained over the failed coup, and 50,000 passports had been cancelled. The Labour Ministry said it was investigating 1300 staff over their possible involvement.

Mr Erdogan has said Mr 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 government is now going after Mr Gulen's network of schools and other institutions abroad. Since the coup attempt, Somalia has shut two schools and a hospital believed to have links to Mr Gulen, and other governments have received similar requests from Ankara, although not all have been willing to comply.

Reuters