The Turkish military would be restructured following the failed coup attempt plotted by a group of soldiers, including some high-ranked generals, as a three-month-long state of emergency came into action early Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared the state of emergency to “strengthen the democratic and public rights” in the country.
He said the declaration was not against the public, but to punish those perpetrators who aimed their weapons, provided by the state of Turkey, to the citizens of the country to destroy democracy and unity. During these three months, all military units will work under the provincial governors and the business and daily works will continue as usual, the president had said.
Deputy PM Kurtulmuş said that the government would take several steps to re-design the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF), because part of the military attempted a coup and killed hundreds of people, mostly civilians who demonstrated against the coup.
He stated that the government planned to lift the state of emergency within 45 days.
He ruled out declaring a curfew, saying that they did not foresee any situation for that.
Following the coup attempt, which failed late Saturday, the government launched wide spread operations against pro-coup members in TAF and more than 6,923 soldiers have been taken into custody, Kurtulmuş said adding that 1,457 soldiers were also arrested for an alleged link to the coup plot.
Moreover, a total of 9,194 people from different sectors have also been taken into custody from across the country, Kurtulmuş said.
He added that Turkey will temporarily suspend the European convention on human rights, as France did after declaring a state of emergency across the country.
France declared its own state of emergency following last November's attacks by Daesh militants in Paris.
