Relatives of coup attempt victims to be exempted from military service under new decree

ANKARA

The sons and brothers of victims of the July 15 coup attempt will not be forced to conduct military service unless they desire to do so, according to a new decree law issued on Nov. 22 as part of the state of emergency, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

The decree law, numbered 678, also permits the sons or brothers of coup victims to demobilize if they are currently conducting their mandatory military service. 

Some 1,259 personnel from the Land Forces Command, 391 from the Naval Forces Command, and 338 from the Air Force Command have also been sacked from the army, according to the decree law.      

A total of 248 people died during the failed coup attempt, widely believed to have been masterminded by the followers of the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.