, the Sözcü daily reported on Tuesday.){kind=link}
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would be granted the authority to extend the retirement age of the country’s top military commanders from 67 to 72 under a new bill submitted to parliament by lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Sözcü daily reported on Tuesday.
If passed, the legislation would allow Erdoğan to extend the terms of the commanders of the Land, Naval and Air Forces by one year at a time, up to the age of 72. The retirement age for the chief of general staff was previously raised from 67 to 72 in a separate law.
The proposal would also apply to four-star generals as well as admirals, paving the way for them to remain in their positions beyond the current age limit of 67.
The bill, which seeks to amend Turkey’s military personnel law, also changes the requirement that to be promoted to lieutenant general or rear admiral, officers must have successfully completed courses at the military academy and served as a combat-class general in the Land Forces, a deck or naval-class admiral in the Naval Forces or a pilot-class general in the Air Forces. The bill also removes the requirement that candidates for these ranks must be staff officers.
The proposed changes come as the current heads of Turkey’s main service branches near the existing retirement age.
Land Forces Commander Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu is 64 and assumed his post on August 3, 2023. Air Forces Commander Gen. Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu, also 64, was appointed on August 16, 2023. Naval Forces Commander Adm. Ercüment Tatlıoğlu is 65 and has held his position since August 19, 2022.
This proposal is part of a broader effort by Erdoğan to expand his control over the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). An omnibus bill submitted by Erdoğan’s AKP in May grants the president the power to dismiss officers between the rank of lieutenant and colonel without approval from the military’s High Disciplinary Board. It also allows Erdoğan to modify promotion waiting periods, enabling him to accelerate or delay career advancement at will.
The government justifies these measures as necessary for swift action against serious disciplinary breaches that could affect the military’s operational effectiveness. However, critics warn that such powers risk politicizing the military and undermining merit-based promotions.
A similar presidential power to dismiss officers was introduced via emergency decree during a post-coup state of emergency declared in the aftermath of a failed coup in July 2016 but was annulled in 2023 by Turkey’s Constitutional Court, which ruled that such authority could not be entrusted to one individual.
The proposed powers come amid heightened scrutiny of military personnel practices. Earlier this year, five newly commissioned lieutenants and three officers were dismissed from the armed forces after participating in an unsanctioned graduation ceremony where they chanted a secularist slogan honoring Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey. The Ministry of Defense said the dismissals were necessary to preserve discipline, but opposition leaders condemned them as politically motivated and symptomatic of creeping authoritarianism in the armed forces.
Since the 2016 coup attempt, over 24,000 military personnel have been expelled over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, which Erdoğan and his AKP government blame for the coup, although the movement strongly denies any involvement. Critics say the current proposals continue a trend of increased presidential influence over the military, raising concerns about institutional checks and balances.
Critics view the proposals as part of a broader push by Erdoğan to reshape state institutions and increase presidential authority, raising concerns over checks and balances.