Turkey post-coup purge depleting NATO staff, commander complains

NATO’s top military officer says about 150 Turkish officers have been recalled or retired from the alliance’s high command since a failed coup attempt in Turkey, placing a significant burden on his staff.

US Army General Curtis Scaparrotti says losing so many seasoned officers had placed “an extra load on our remaining people” and that “it obviously has an impact on their military.”

“I had talented, capable people here, and I’m taking a degradation on my staff,” he says.

Turkey, a NATO ally, has launched a large-scale crackdown on followers and institutions it thinks are linked to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of masterminding the failed July 15 plot to topple the government.

Authorities have arrested close to 38,000 people and purged more than 100,000 others from government jobs, including the military. Gulen has denied orchestrating the coup.

The officers who were recalled or retired from NATO make up about half of Turkey’s roughly 300-strong officer contingent at the alliance’s high command in Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands.

Scaparrotti says that about 75 of them have been replaced so far.

— AP