31 July 2016•Update: 31 July 2016
ANKARA
Several top Turkish Cabinet ministers will now have seats on the Supreme Military Council (YAS), as a key reform in the wake of the failed July 15 military coup by a group of rogue officers, the state Official Gazette announced on Sunday.
Under a statutory decree, seen as part of Turkey's current three-month state of emergency, the deputy prime ministers and the foreign, justice, and interior ministers will now join the prime minister, chief of General Staff, defense minister, and the force commanders on the council.
A number of military officers will no longer sit on the council, including some generals and admirals.
Under other reforms, the gendarmerie is now answerable to the Interior Ministry, so the gendarmerie commander will also no longer sit on the council.
Also under the changes announced, the defense minister replaces the deputy chief of General Staff as the council’s secretary general.
Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20, just days after a group of rogue military officers were defeated in their July 15 coup attempt.
During a state of emergency, the Cabinet has the right to issue statutory decrees under the president of the republic without regard to routine procedures and restrictions in Article 91 of the Constitution. These decrees are first published in the Official Gazette and then submitted to parliament for ratification.
More than 230 people were killed and nearly 2,200 injured in the coup attempt, which Turkish officials have repeatedly said was carried out by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), led by U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen.
