Erdogan government's practices deepen Turkish air forces' crisis

NEWS DESK

Turkish media outlets said that the authorities stopped 63 people most of them are the military pilots suspected to be linked to the attempt of the coup d'état according to the Public Prosecutor's Office in Ankara on Wednesday.   

This comes within investigations carried out by the public prosecutor in the Turkish group of Fathulla Gullen who resides in the United States and is accused to be responsible of the coup d'état attempt by Turkey, while he firmly denies that. 

The 63 suspected made clear that 46 helicopter pilots in the military service and 2 former pilots in addition to the remained 15 civilians according to the Prosecution's Office work for the interest of Gullen Movement which is listed as terrorist by Turkey.

Dozens of thousands of people were arrested in the suppression camp that followed the coup d'état attempt, while more than 140,000 were sacked or suspended. In the last weeks, the raids doubled amid reports about most daily arrest throughout Turkey.

In previous statements, the Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has admitted for the first time the losses that inflicted to the Turkish army, especially the air force because of the continuous campaigns that target the pilots. 

Nordic Monitor website that monitors the military situations published a video on youtube of Akar's speech who made a tour in Suleiman Shah grave in Ashma village in Aleppo city on Tuesday.

Akar said during his speech to the Turkish military forces that occupy the Syrian lands that the air operations during the last aggression witnessed undertaking a single pilot in the air forces the task of 5 pilots. 

The site mentioned that Akar's statements are considered the first open admission by a senior governmental official of the sever lack of the pilots in the Turkish army after arrest operations carried out against officials in the air forces on the background of the coup d'état attempt that took place in 2016.

According to regional media outlets, the Turkish government has sacked more than 700 pilots, that is, more than half of the total number of its forces since 2016 under the pretext of imposing executive resolutions by emergency state that has not been ended yet.