Turkish PM condemns coups at Academy

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a 40-minute-lecture at the Academy in İstanbul last month, which was also attended by top state officials. AA photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reportedly denounced military coups in a recent speech he gave at a conference at the Turkish War Academy, stressing that past coups have profoundly harmed the country.

“Our country has never gained any advantages from those periods when democracy has been interrupted. The economy suffered, democracy was shaken up, the legal system became controversial, and the country wasted decades because of these periods of interruption,” Erdoğan said in a speech to cadets at the War Academy March 23, state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

Erdoğan gave a 40-minute-lecture at the Academy in İstanbul last month, which was also attended by Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz, and Commander of War Academies Gen. Arslan Güner, as well as academics, cadets and military staff. The details of his speech are recenly made public by the news agency.

Speaking of the Turkish Army’s fight against terrorism, Erdoğan stressed that the government will continue to support the General Staff, adding that they will maintain democratization and development efforts simultaneously with security measures.

Referring to the peace-keeping operations of the Turkish Armed Forces abroad and the developments in the defense industry, Erdoğan said, “We will support our Turkish Armed Forces, which are the apple of our eye and a deterrent power serving the peace.”

He also said that Turkey maintains its determination to achieve full membership in the EU, while adding that facing the West does not mean turning a back to the East and the South.