Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been endowed with new powers, the Official Gazette (Resmi Gazete) reported Aug. 17.

From now on, Turkey's president is entitled to appoint the chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces.

Earlier, the chief of the General Staff was appointed through a voting in Turkey’s Supreme Military Council.

Hulusi Akar is currently the chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces.

A number of reforms in the military have been carried out in Turkey after the July 15 military coup attempt.

On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them.

However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people, excluding the coup plotters, and over 2,000 people were wounded.

Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20.