Istanbul: Turkey has dismissed 1,389 personnel from the armed forces for suspected links to the US-based cleric it blames for orchestrating a failed coup, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Sunday.
It gave no other details. The report comes hours after President Tayyip Erdogan said he planned several changes to the armed forces, including shutting military academies, steps designed to bring the military firmly under government control.
Turkey blames followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, for the July 15-16 abortive putsch. Gulen has denied the charges and condemned the coup.
Meanwhile, Turkish authorities have restricted access to and from a key airbase used in operations against Daesh militants until further notice, local media reported on Sunday, one day before the US top military official is scheduled to visit the country.
Police deployed armoured cars to block the gates of Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey following intelligence that raised suspicion that another coup was being plotted after the failed July 15 putsch, Hurriyet and the pro-government Yeni Safak newspapers reported, without saying how they obtained the information.
Turkey has suspended or removed more than 60,000 people from jobs in the military, security services, judiciary and media since the failed coup. James Clapper, director of US national intelligence, said on Thursday that the purge has affected “many of our interlocutors”.
General Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command said Turkey’s “frictions” have already impacted some operations against Daesh.
The remarks have further strained ties between Nato’s two largest armed forces. While Erdogan has stopped short of directly accusing the Obama administration of fomenting the coup attempt, officials and news outlets are blaming the US with increasing intensity.
US officials have denied any role in the failed putsch.
Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is set to visit Turkey on Monday, Erdogan said over the weekend.
