[AA.TR] More than 500 military personnel are the latest to be removed from their posts over suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.In a tweet, the ministry said 540 naval and air force personnel, including 368 sergeants, had been temporarily suspended from duty. It did not indicate when the suspensions had been carried out.
The majority of those affected -- 427 -- were from the navy with the remainder coming from the air force, the ministry said on its official Twitter account.
Tens of thousands of public sector personnel, including civil servants, teachers, police, judges and prosecutors have been removed from their jobs in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt, which the government has said was carried out by FETO members.
To date, 3,699 military personnel have been dismissed or suspended.
U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the Turkish government through the infiltration of state institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
Attrition: Turkey Loses Its F-16 Surge Mojo
| A question we have been asking since the first mass arrests a few years ago is now partially answered. |
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
had many victims and one of the lesser known ones was the effectiveness of Turkish fighter fleet. While few F-16 pilots took part in the coup, the government lost (through dismissal or resignation) 274 combat pilots. This reduced the ratio of pilots per F-16 from 1.25 to .8. Suddenly the combat capabilities of the Turkish air force was greatly reduced, especially if the F-16s were called on to engage in large scale and intensive operations.