Turkey's armed forces face deep overhaul in wake of coup
ANKARA/ISTANBUL - Turkey's top brass and political leaders were poised to launch a major overhaul of the armed forces on Thursday after a failed military coup that has shaken the nation of nearly 80 million people and alarmed its NATO allies.
Hours before the Supreme Military Council began its annual meeting in Ankara, the armed forces dishonourably discharged nearly 1,700 personnel for their alleged role in the July 15-16 putsch in which a faction of the armed forces tried to topple President Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan, who narrowly escaped capture and possible death on the night of the coup, told Reuters in an interview last week that the military, NATO'S second biggest, needed "fresh blood". The dishonourable discharges included around 40 percent of Turkey's admirals and generals.
