Turkey to restructure army after coup attempt

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said on Thursday that a series of measures will be taken in order to restructure the Turkish army after the failed coup attempt Friday last week.

“There were cases of personal and structural failures in intelligence during the coup attempt,” Kurtulmuş told reporters in Ankara.

On the imposition of a state of emergency in Turkey, Kurtulmuş said the state of emergency could last for less than the declared three-month period.

The Turkish parliament approved the implementation of a three-month nationwide state of emergency by a vote of 346 to 115 on Thursday afternoon.

“We want to end the state of emergency as soon as possible,” Kurtulmuş said. “If conditions return to normal, we think it will take a one or one-and-a-half month period at the maximum. I hope there will be no need for a further extension.”

The deputy prime minister also noted that his country would suspend its obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights and compared the situation in Turkey to France.

“France proclaimed a state of emergency too, and they have suspended the ECHR under article 15 of the convention,” said Kurtulmuş.

According to Kurtulmuş some 6,823 army personnel have been suspended since the coup.