Brigadier General Özkan Edip Akgülay, whose promotion was approved by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan not so long ago, was arrested on Tuesday 26 January in Eskişehir by the court in Diyarbakir.
Akgülay was once responsible for fighter jets in the Turkish Air Forces but was accused by Diyarbakır’s chief public prosecutor of communicating with some Gulenists through payphones.
The Gulen movement is deemed a terrorist organisation by the Turkish government which claims that they were behind the July 2016 coup attempt. Akgülay was detained following the 2016 coup attempt with the accusation of being a member of a terrorist organisation, only to be released soon after.
However, these claims did not deter President Erdogan from approving his promotion. Turkish legislation states that once arrested, military officers cannot be promoted, even if they are released or their cases are pending.
Akgülay was promoted from Colonel to Brigadier General in 2017 and assigned as commander of the Joint Air Operations Centre in Eskişehir, which is the command base for all Turkish fighter jets following the closure of air bases in Diyarbakır province, in the aftermath of the failed coup. Akgülay was allegedly allowing jets flown by putschists to fly through Ankara.
Turkey has dismissed over 5,000 soldiers, including generals, since the coup attempt and arrested thousands of security officers.
The post Turkish general promoted by Erdogan arrested appeared first on IPA NEWS.
from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/01/31/turkish-general-promoted-by-erdogan-arrested/
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