The weakness of the Turkish air force was publicly acknowledged by the Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar saying that the Turkish Air Force has lost 80% of its manpower and only 20% of its pilots and engineers work for TuAF.
At an event for the anniversary of the 2016 coup attempt, the Turkish minister admitted that there were problems before as well in the country’s air force but after the coup attempt, “80% of these traitors were thrown out” as he said and added that now there are by far fewer pilots and one is working for five.
Of course, even before Akar admitted it, it was obvious that the Turkish air force has been left too understaffed since the Turkish government has prosecuted hundreds of members of the Turkish armed forces –including the air force.
It seems that Erdogan and the military leadership of Turkey were overly confident about the F-35 fighters they were waiting to receive at the time since no other explanation can be given as to why a state would fire 80% of its pilots when it cannot afford training new ones.
