Türkiye’s military has strengthened its institutional structure, rebuilt its education system and restored critical personnel capacity in the decade since the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and the head of the National Defense University said.

Speaking to Sabah newspaper, Güler said that the fight against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) was continuing without interruption and with the same determination shown in its immediate aftermath.

He said 24,008 personnel had been dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) while the ranks of 2,198 retired personnel had been revoked as part of investigations into alleged links to the group.

"The most important issue for the Turkish Armed Forces is not the figures, but the uncompromising continuation of the struggle against this treacherous structure that attempted to infiltrate the state,” Güler noted.

He said new information and documents were being evaluated in coordination with relevant institutions and that judicial procedures were being carried out with what he described as great sensitivity.

"Our struggle against those who betrayed our state and nation will continue with the same determination until not a single affiliated member remains,” he stressed.

The minister described July 15 as one of the darkest nights in the country’s history, but also as one of its most significant democratic resistance movements.

He said the attempt was defeated through the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, public resistance and the efforts of members of the security forces and military who remained loyal to the constitutional order.

"The nation showed the entire world that it would never surrender to any center of tutelage or act of betrayal.”

Underlining that the central lesson of the failed coup was the need to preserve national unity and solidarity, Güler added that the military introduced extensive reforms over the past decade in recruitment, professional military education, career planning and internal oversight.

He said a personnel system built around merit, discipline, transparency and the rule of law had helped the armed forces become more effective, respected and capable of deterrence.

FETÖ had sought to weaken the military’s institutional structure, undermine unity of command and damage public confidence in the armed forces, but had failed to achieve those aims, according to him.

He recalled that the military was currently conducting some of the most extensive operations in its history, including border security missions, counterterrorism operations, maritime deployments and international assignments.

Citing domestically produced defense technology, improved training standards and qualified personnel as factors that had increased the military’s operational capacity, Güler said planned recruitment and training programs had largely resolved the shortage and that the air force was now capable of conducting its missions inside Türkiye and across its borders.

Furthermore, National Defense University (MSÜ) Rector Erhan Afyoncu said the military education system had to be effectively rebuilt from the ground up, describing the coup attempt as more than a conventional military takeover, calling it an attempt by an espionage network to occupy Türkiye and provoke civil war.

He noted the group had gradually placed members in military high schools and academies beginning in the 1970s, intensifying those efforts after 1980.

According to Afyoncu, the network recruited children, prepared them for military careers and helped them rise through the ranks, while allegedly forcing out students who were not affiliated with the group.

He said unusually high numbers of dismissals from military schools before 2016 should have raised concerns among senior commanders.

Afyoncu said about 16,000 students were removed from military schools following the coup attempt, leaving the system without a functioning structure.

The National Defense University was established later that month, bringing army, navy and air force education institutions under a single civilian-supervised organization.

Afyoncu said the new structure introduced joint civilian-military administration, revised curricula and courses on democracy, civil society, military history and what he called Turkish war philosophy.

He said the university’s curricula were also aligned with the standards of Türkiye’s Council of Higher Education and pointed out that public interest in military education remained high despite fears that families would be reluctant to send their children to military schools following the coup attempt.

"When we began accepting students only a few months after the coup, people came in large numbers,” he said. "The Turkish nation protected its own military education system.”

The university has since graduated nearly 67,000 officers and noncommissioned officers, he remarked, helping fill much of the personnel gap created by the dismissals.

Afyoncu said the graduates had enabled the military to maintain operations in multiple regions and continue naval and overseas deployments.

"Without those 67,000 graduates, these military operations could not have been carried out,” he said.

Afyoncu also added that Türkiye had expanded military education cooperation with partner countries. Foreign enrollment at the university had risen from students representing 16 countries at the time of its establishment to students from around 50 countries.

Similar military universities had also been established or were being developed in Azerbaijan, Syria and Uzbekistan, he noted.

Both Güler and Afyoncu said reforms were intended to prevent similar networks from infiltrating the military in the future.

Güler said the armed forces would continue to serve under the Constitution and laws, under civilian authority and in the service of the nation.

"We will continue working with the same determination and sacrifice for the security, independence and survival of our country,” he emphasized.