Turkish Supreme Military Council convenes on agenda of national security

ANKARA

Turkey’s Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) has convened under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and with the participation of senior civilian and military officials who have discussed dismissals and promotions in the senior army ranks. 

It was the first YAŞ meeting since the new presidential governmental system went into effect after the June 24 elections.

“I am sure that our meeting will strengthen our fight against all kinds of terror organizations, particularly FETÖ [Fethullahist Terror Organization] and the PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party], which pose threats to our national security,” Erdoğan said during his visit to the mausoleum of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, on Aug. 2.

The meeting was attended by Vice President Fuat Oktay, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, Education Minister Ziya Selçuk, Chief of Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler, as well as the commanders of the air, land and naval forces. 

In the meeting that took more than two hours, nine generals, including Second Army commander İsmail Metin Temel, and admirals, including Naval Forces commander Adnan Özbal, were promoted

41 colonels became generals and admirals, while 12 others were retired, setting the number of officers with this rank in the armed forces at 244.

A series of promotions had already taken place before the YAŞ meeting, when Akar, the former chief of general staff, was appointed as defense minister on July 9.

Akar was replaced by former Land Forces Commander Gen. Yaşar Güler, who was replaced by Gen. Ümit Dündar, the former commander of the First Army in Istanbul.

YAŞ was radically changed with a presidential decree on July 15 along with the abolishment of the office of the prime minister.