A total of 13 people, including four officers, five noncommissioned officers, two civil servants and two military cadets, have been detained as part of an investigation by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into the Gülen movement, accused by the Turkish government of mounting a botched coup attempt in July 2016, the Doğan news agency reported on Monday.
According to the report, nine of the suspects who were detained were still working while four of them were dismissed from their jobs under government decrees issued as part of emergency rule.
One hundred thirty generals and admirals in the Turkish military were either dismissed or suspended as part of the widespread purge following the failed coup attempt in July of last year.
The government has been at the center of criticism for turning the Turkish armed forces into a political Islamist military in line with the wishes of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In February Defense Minister Işık said 30,000 new recruits would be enlisted in the TSK.
A month later Işık declared that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government had dismissed a total of 22,920 military personnel (6,511 officers and 16,409 cadets) after the coup attempt although the Turkish military stated on July 27 that only 8,651 military members including cadets and conscripts took part in the failed coup.
The Cumhuriyet daily reported in March that the government plans to investigate 90,000 more military personnel over links to the Gülen movement.
Some find the Turkish government’s efforts to Islamicize the Turkish army alarming and warn that NATO risks having a member army filled with extremists.
In February, Henri Barkey, director of the Middle East Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center, said that many generals purged by the Turkish government are pro-NATO and pro-American, saying this could create a shift in Turkey-NATO relations.
