Turkish General Staff denies claims of command weakness
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
![Turkish General Staff denies claims of command weakness](http://image.hurimg.com/i/hurriyet/75/0x0/59c78ee945d2a027e83ae2ba.jpg)
“The retirements and resignations take place on January and February. The procedures for the personnel who want to quit willfully continues. The public will be informed when the procedures are completed,” said the statement. Recalling that the resignation and retirement are natural and personal right, the General Staff also said that those personnel who quit the army are replaced with new personnel at the same qualifications.
“Those who believe that they can harm the Turkish Armed Forces by making [this] agenda are wrong,” it also said.
Talking about deficiency is unacceptable: Erdoğan
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed reports alleging collective resignations from the Turkish Armed Forces. “The only competent authority on this matter is the Turkish Armed Forces. Retirement is routine in the army. All those [who served a certain amount of years] can ask for their retirement if they wish. But to approach it as if it is a deficiency is not acceptable. It’s a virus put forward by those who want to stir up trouble and whom have bad intentions,” Erdoğan said Feb. 6 in Ankara shortly after returning from his Central European visits.