As of July 21, 124 Turkish generals and admirals have been detained on charges of participating in the failed coup of July 15. This will significantly affect the integrity and performance of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), as the TSK's total number of generals and admirals was 358. In other words, almost 35% of all TSK generals and admirals are in detention for participating in a coup attempt outside the armed forces hierarchy.
The air force and gendarmerie forces played key roles in the uprising. The coup attempt launched by generals calling themselves "Peace in the Country Council" was planned at the Gendarmerie General Command Headquarters in Ankara. Akinci air base, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the city, served as the coup's operations center. In addition to several armored units in Ankara and Istanbul, assault and general-purpose helicopters of the army aviation units supported the coup attempt.
Rumors suggest the most hawkish elements of the army fighting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the southeast were on hand at the coup operations center.
A striking development was the arrest of four-star Gen. Adem Huduti, the commander of the Malatya-based second army, which conducts operations in Diyarbakir and Sirnak, the main fronts of the battle that devastated those towns with tank and artillery fire. Leaders of commando brigades at Sirnak and Hakkari were detained on charges of joining the coup attempt.
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