Turkish news agency

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan wants the armed forces and national intelligence agency brought under the control of the presidency, a parliamentary official said on Thursday, part of a major overhaul of the military after a failed coup. Erdogan's comments came after a five-hour meeting of Turkey's Supreme Military Council (YAS) - chaired by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and including the top brass - and the dishonorable discharge of nearly 1,700 military personnel over their alleged role in the abortive putsch on July 15-16. After the meeting, Erdogan approved the council's decisions to keep armed forces chief Hulusi Akar and the army, navy and air force commanders in their posts, making few changes to the top brass, Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters. 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 dishonorable discharges … [Read more...] about Erdogan wants army under president’s control after coup: Turkish official

Forces loyal to the Turkish government fought on Saturday to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt which crumbled after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks. More than 90 people were killed in violence that erupted late on Friday after a faction of the armed forces attempted to seize power using tanks and attack helicopters, some strafing the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in Ankara, others seizing a major bridge in Istanbul. Erdogan appeared to accuse the coup plotters of trying to kill him, and promised to purge the armed forces which in the past have staged a number of successful coups. "They will pay a heavy price for this," he said. "This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army." Turkish authorities have already detained around 1,500 members of the armed forces, officials said. Chief of staff Hulusi Akar, who had been reported held … [Read more...] about Turkish forces fight to crush coup remnants after Erdogan returns

Three suspected Islamic State suicide bombers who killed 42 people in a gun and bomb attack at Istanbul airport this week were from Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, a Turkish government official said on Thursday. The attack on Europe's third-busiest airport was the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings in Turkey this year. The three bombers opened fire to create panic outside, before two of them got inside the terminal building and blew themselves up. The third detonated his explosives at the entrance. A further 239 people were wounded. The official gave no further details beyond confirming the attackers' nationalities and declined to be named because details of the investigation have not yet been released. Investigators had been struggling to identify the bombers from their limited remains, officials said earlier. "A medical team is working around the clock to conclude the identification process," one of the officials said. The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said the … [Read more...] about Istanbul bombers were Russian, Uzbek, Kyrgyz nationals: Turkish official