Turkish president vows to ‘purge’ military graduates who took a pro-secular oath

ISTANBUL (AP) — The Turkish president has hit out at military graduates who took a pro-secular oath during their graduation ceremony, promising that those behind it would be “purged” from the military. Speaking at a conference for Islamic schools in the northwestern city of Kocaeli on Saturday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described those involved as “opportunists.” He added that an investigation was underway. Turkey has become more overtly religious under Erdogan, shedding some of the secularist traditions of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Turkey’s military has traditionally viewed itself as the guarantor of secularism, but following a failed coup in 2016, thousands of people were purged from the armed forces, the judiciary, and other public institutions.