Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
Text taken from the Telegram channel of @istanbul_wolf
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] This has never happened before and here it is again. In Turkey, officers are being detained en masse on charges of links to "Gulenists"
 Goodness — still riding that hobby horse?
SCANDAL IN THE TURKISH ARMY: OFFICERS CONTROLLING DRONES ARRESTED
In Turkey, 163 people, including active officers, have been detained as part of an investigation into the activities of FETO (Fethullahçı Terör Örgütü, a terrorist organization led by Fethullah Gülen). Among them are pilots of combat drones, including an AEK colonel, an OFY major, and another KK colonel.
The operations were coordinated by the Istanbul and Izmir prosecutors. The arrests covered 41 provinces. The defendants include officers from the ground and air forces, intelligence, tank units, as well as active and retired police officers.
The investigation claims that they maintained contact with FETO curators via payphones and payment points, a typical method of covert communication for the organization.
What is known about the operation:
- 183 suspects were detained,
- 77 of them as part of the operation coordinated from Istanbul,
- among the detainees - 174 active military personnel, including 11 colonels, 16 lieutenant colonels, 46 majors, 27 captains and others.
Some officers had access to strategic UAV control systems, which calls into question the internal security of Turkey's defense structures.
The investigation is ongoing.
It may turn out that the Gülenists were planning a massive drone attack from within on the country's leadership and the army in preparation for another military coup, which are planned with enviable regularity in Turkey under Erdogan. If they really were preparing a coup again, then we can expect that the arrest of this group of officers will not be enough and the Turkish army will again face a large-scale purge. The last major cleanup took place after the failed military coup of 2016, when the plotters came close to killing Erdogan and seizing power, but due to their own mistakes, they screwed up.
P.S. The arrests continue.
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