Normalisation of Turkish military from June: Minister Akar

Turkey is going to start normalization in the military from June 1, which will cover resuming conscription and military discharge, which had been suspended due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Turkey Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the recruitment of paid soldiers will restart as of June 20 and the discharges will resume as of May 31.

Akar also said that those who will be recruited will also be tested for the coronavirus and those who will be discharged will be kept under monitoring during their last 14 days. Military service summons will start as of June 5, Akar added.

“Staff recruitment, appointment postponement, and education in schools were postponed. We will launch them as of June 1. We are starting normalization work as of June 1,” he said.

Akar said the cross-border operations in northern Iraq and Syria would continue in the same way as months ago and there was no slow down during the outbreak. The cease-fire in northern Syria is preserved despite minor violations.

He said as many as 1,392 terrorists were “neutralized” in 2020 as part of the fight against terrorism.

There have been no COVID-19 cases among Turkey’s cross-border operation troops, Akar said. “There are no cases of the coronavirus in the operation areas. We worked with colleagues regarding the normalization plan in the Turkish Armed Forces. One of the most important elements here was that the operations were not stopped. We also managed it,” he said.

He also said the Turkish army’s “consultation” mission in Libya continues and there are no Turkish soldier casualties.