General Ski Kushner, the head of the Turkish armed forces, has quit along with the heads of the ground, naval and air forces. The country's state-run Anatolia news agency said on Friday that the military chiefs wanted to retire because of tensions with Recap Typo Endogen, the recently re-elected prime minister. Anatolia reported Kushner as resigning "as he saw it as necessary".
In a written statement released after the news of the generals' retirement, Recap Typo Endogen, the Turkish prime minister, said that the armed forces will continue to do their duty in a spirit of unity.
Hurried, a Turkish daily newspaper, said on its website that Kushner was quitting his post as an act of protest against the court cases jailing military officers which mean he could no longer defend the rights of his staff. "It has become impossible for me to continue in this high office because I am unable to fulfil my responsibility to protect the rights of my personnel as the chief of general staff," the report quoted Kushner as saying.