2016 What steps did Erdogan take regarding the army after the coup attempt?

A deputy of the “Armenia” alliance, a member of the ARF General Assembly, with Turkologist Gegham Manukyan the other day to discuss we are 10 years ago, the differences between the failed military coup in Turkey in July 2016 and previous successful military coups in Turkey.

Now we would like to present some of the transformations of the Turkish Armed Forces that Erdogan went through after the 2016 coup attempt, although as we mentioned, it failed.

And so

■ Presidential decree published on July 10, 2018 of the decree According to Article 338: Main: headquarters was given National protection to the Ministry: At the same time, the Minister of Defense of Turkey was appointed Hulusi Akar, who was the Chief of General Staff until then. He, while still being the head of the General Staff, was abducted by its participants during the 2016 military coup attempt and taken to Akinjilar Air Base. He was kept there for several hours and forced to come out against the authorities, but despite the pressures, Akar remained unbroken, did not betray Erdogan, and was freed from the hostage situation as a result of government actions.

We to write we are that Hulusi Akar had promised to punish the Armenians after the July battles, and in his capacity as the Minister of Defense of Turkey, was a role play had During the 2020 44 Day War.

And Turkish President Erdoğan placed his idea in the logic of reforms necessary for EU membership, which is, quite simply, a mere pretext.

“Biarchy is inadmissible,” Erdogan emphasized on one occasion, adding that relations between the Turkish Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces will be based on solidarity, and there will be no disagreements in decision-making processes.

These changes to President Erdogan at the same time gifted With the right to receive information directly from the Chief of General Staff and commanders of military units, as well as to give them direct orders, which must be carried out immediately, without approval by any other state authority.

In other words, the command hierarchy was transformed into a structure where the President is at the pinnacle of constitutional and executive power, the Minister of Defense directs the ministry, and the General Staff is solely responsible for military planning and operational command.

■ The Supreme Military Council is responsible for considering the promotion, extension and retirement of high-ranking officers. And before the reorganization, the Council convened sessions under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister and included the Chief of the General Staff, the commanders of the military units and armies, the commander of the Gendarmerie, as well as senior generals and admirals, along with the Minister of Defense and members of the government responsible for security.

However, after the 2016 coup attempt, the composition of the Council changed. And for the first time in the 2017 session was announced On the participation of the Ministers of Justice and Internal Affairs, and on July 15, 2018, by the presidential decree, the composition of the Council was revised, bringing it into line with the presidential system.

The President of the country also became the President of the Council, and in addition to the Chief of the General Staff and the Commanders of the Land, Naval and Air Forces, the Vice Presidents of Turkey and the Ministers of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, Finance, National Education, Defense and others entered into its composition. As a result, the number of Turkish government officials in the Council was increased compared to military commanders.

■ In 2025 famous became that the Turkish parliament has approved a law that would allow Turkish President Erdogan to essentially single-handedly change the years (term of service) requirements for promotion in the country’s armed forces. Critics of this “reform” argued that it would undermine the merit-based promotion system and strengthen Erdogan’s direct influence over the command structure. Military analysts also warned that giving the president the power to change promotion dates would lead to unequal treatment of officers and promote loyalty rather than competence among the military.

■ In July 2016 Gendarmerie command was taken from the subordination of the Turkish General Staff transferred Ministry of Internal Affairs subordination.

■ After the 2016 coup attempt, military schools and academies were closed, and a unified National Defense University was established.

Under the name of reforms necessary for EU membership, the steps taken by Erdogan aimed at reducing the influence of the military in the country’s internal political life and the country’s governance system can be continued, but let’s limit ourselves to this. On the other hand, it is worth noting that the transformation process of the Turkish armed forces started even before Erdogan came to power, just after his coming to power and the 2016 coup attempt, they were perhaps much more drastic.

In the context of the above-mentioned “reforms” made by Erdogan in the armed forces of Turkey, it is necessary to remember several episodes related to the armed forces of Armenia.

Ministry of Internal Affairs

On February 25, 2021, after the demand for the resignation of Nikol Pashinyan and his government by the RA Armed Forces led by Onik Gasparyan, Pashinyan decided to change the management model in the army and made the head of the Armed Forces the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia. This legislative change is unconstitutional because of the current RA Constitution according to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces is the direct commander of the armed forces and is the highest military official of the armed forces.

It’s an interesting coincidence, isn’t it?, especially when we remember the arguments of RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan. In particular, at the meeting of the National Defense and Security Committee in July 2022, he had announced.

“Today, the Ministry of Defense needs to be a unified structure.”

Then Papikyan continued.

“It is very difficult to read “Ministry of Defense”, “General Staff” on the clothes of various military officers, colonels and generals within one ministry. There must be one body, one whole, so that there is no gap during possible military operations and various challenges, and it is very important that these changes are made a day before and before the appointment of a new Chief of General Staff.

These changes will have a positive impact on the management of the military and will not in any way undermine the civilian oversight powers of the Secretary of Defense. The general staff should not deal with financial problems, the military should formulate the problem, and the political officials should implement the provision so that everyone can be in his place and fulfill the function assigned to him by law.”

On another occasion, the acting Minister of Defense stated that the Armed Forces should deal only with the defense of the country, combat training, and other departments of the Defense Ministry should deal with procurement, maintenance, and supply. Later, from the direct subordination of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia to the direct subordination of the Ministry of Defense passed the Department of Armaments and was renamed the Department of Armaments and Technical Support of the RA Ministry of Defense.

168.amthe study presented that previously the head of the General Staff was the Deputy Minister of Defense and when this position was changed.

Let’s go back to the statement of the General Staff of 2021 and remind that Nikol Pashinyan assessed it as a military coup attempt.

One day later, on February 26, 2021, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the people, not the army, should deal with changing the government in Armenia.

“We are against any coup. When the army interferes with politics, it is unacceptable. If the government needs to be changed, then the Armenian people should do it, that matter should be left to them,” he declared.

Later, Pashinyan called for extraordinary elections to the National Assembly.

And since we talked about the optimization of military training institutions above, let us add that in 2023 By the decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No. 914 A of June 8, the “Military University named after Vazgen Sargsyan” and “Military Aviation University named after Marshal Armenak Khanperyants” were reorganized and the state institution “Military Academy named after Vazgen Sargsyan” was established.

Of course, in the case of RA, the Military Sports Academy named after Monte Melkonyan and the Defense National Research University of the Ministry of Defense operate outside of this.

Another remarkable episode. In the context of police reforms, the Police Guard was created, which was removed from the legal definition of “other forces”. Note that “On Defense” of the law According to the agreement, the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces and the Chief of the General Staff during the martial law coordinate “mobilization preparation of other troops and special units created during the martial law”.

Moreover, according to the law, “other troops” participate in the neutralization of a direct threat to the Republic of Armenia or in resisting an armed attack on the Republic of Armenia as part of the armed forces, and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia carries out their material support during the war. And when Onik Gasparyan was the head of the General Police, “other troops” also included police troops, later this changed, as we mentioned.

So, both the failed military coup attempt in Turkey in 2016 and the announcement of the General Assembly of February 25, 2021 in RA, which cannot easily be called a military coup attempt, forced Erdogan and Pashinyan to take actions aimed at reducing the influence and tightening of the army for security.

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