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Shakeup expected for Turkish military leadership

Major changes are expected at the August meetings of Turkey's High Military Council, and the positions adopted by the new military command will affect Turkish policies, including the course of current military operations.
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (2nd L), flanked by Chief of Staff General Necdet Ozel (2nd R) and Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz (L), leaves after a wreath-laying ceremony with members of the High Military Council at Anitkabir, the mausoleum of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, ahead of a High Military Council meeting in Ankara August 4, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR415KJ

The first week of August is of critical importance for the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). The High Military Council (HMC) that will decide the high-level new appointments and promotions in the TSK will meet in Ankara on Aug. 3-5 under Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. This session is considered pivotal for Turkey, which has been in political turmoil since the June 7 general elections and has now plunged into a two-front struggle against the Islamic State (IS) and the Kurdistan Workers Party, making security the overriding consideration in the country.

Although the annual August meetings of the HMC are always followed with some interest, this year's attention is phenomenal, as the positions to be adopted by the new command will also affect the political wrangling in Ankara. This influence may also explain reports that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan instructed Davutoglu, “We will go to the HMC as the [Justice and Development Party] AKP government.”

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