Two of Turkey’s highest-ranked generals resigned on Thursday as the prime minister prepared to meet military commanders over one of the most radical shake-ups in the armed forces’ history in the wake of a failed coup.

Generals İhsan Uyar and Kamil Başoğlu, who both orgeneral - Turkey’s highest rank for a general - stepped down ahead of the meeting, the private Dogan news agency reported. Their resignations follow the dishonourable discharge of 149 generals over the coup, which the Turkish government claims was masterminded by an exiled cleric.

The hastily convened meeting of the Supreme Military Council (YAS) in Ankara will bring together the prime minister, Binali Yıldırım, and the land, sea and air force commanders, still in post.

In a symbol of the military’s waning power, the meeting will be symbolically held at the Çankaya palace of the prime minister in Ankara and not, as is customary, at military headquarters.



Lower-ranking officers are expected to be fast-tracked to fill the gaps in the top positions.

In the wake of the coup the military has already lost control of the coastguard and gendarmerie, which will now be dependent on the interior ministry.

The gathering comes a day after the government dramatically stepped up its post-coup crackdown, announcing mass military dismissals and closing down dozens of media outlets.

Eighty-seven land army generals, 30 air force generals, and 32 admirals – a total of 149 – were dishonourably discharged over their complicity in the 15 July putsch bid, an official said, confirming a government decree.

In addition, 1,099 officers and 436 junior officers have also received a dishonourable discharge, the decree added.

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who survived the biggest threat to his 13-year rule of the country when supporters countered the plotters on the streets, has blamed the attempted overthrow on the US-based preacher Fethullah Gülen.

The authorities have since launched a relentless campaign to eradicate Gülen’s influence from Turkish institutions in a clampdown that has shaken every aspect of life in the country and led to the detention of nearly 16,000 people.

The military has insisted that only a tiny proportion of the total armed forces – which number around 750,000, the second-largest in Nato after the United States – took part in the coup.



But 178 generals have been detained, with 151 of them already remanded in custody, around half of the 358 serving generals.

The media has also found itself in the firing line. On Wednesday, three news agencies, 16 television stations, 23 radio stations, 45 newspapers, 15 magazines and 29 publishers were ordered to shut down, the official gazette said.

It did not give the names of the media outlets to be closed, but according to a list obtained by the CNN-Turk channel they include mainly provincial titles as well as some well known national media.

These include the Cihan news agency, the pro-Kurdish IMC TV and the opposition daily newspaper Taraf.

Also to be shut are the Zaman newspaper and its Today’s Zaman English language sister publication which, like Cihan, were part of a holding linked to Gülen until being put into state administration earlier this year.

Authorities handed out arrest warrants for 42 journalists earlier this week and on Wednesday issued another 47 for former staff of the once pro-Gülen Zaman newspaper.

The energy minister Berat Albayrak, who is Erdogan’s son-in-law, told reporters Gülen supporters had successfully infiltrated the armed forces and authorities had been planning to purge them before the coup.

“Especially at the level of general, the problem is high. Quantity wise the problem is low,” he said.

Gülen, who says he runs a peaceful Islamic movement, has denied he was behind the coup and expressed hope that the US would not give in to Ankara’s pressure and extradite him.

Turkey has insisted all suspects will be given a fair hearing and an official said almost 3,000 suspects had been released after being detained.

Some 50,000 state employees have lost their jobs since 15 July, mostly in the education sector.