Ankara Sacks over 7,000 for Suspected Links to Last year Failed Coup

Ankara Sacks over 7,000 for Suspected Links to Last year Failed Coup
Sat Jul 15, 2017 10:47:26

The Turkish government has dismissed over 7,000 people, mostly police officers, civil servants and academics, from their jobs as part of the latest wave of crackdown against those accused of supporting a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year.

 According to the latest decree on Friday, 2,303 police personnel, including some from senior ranks, and 302 academics from universities across the Anatolian country lost their jobs, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

It added that the ruling also stripped 342 retired officers and troopers of their ranks and grades.

During the July 15 putsch last year, a faction of the Turkish military declared that it had seized control of the country and the government of President Erdogan was no more in charge. The attempt was, however, suppressed a few hours later.

Ankara has since accused Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Turkish cleric and opposition figure, of orchestrating and masterminding the coup. He is also accused of being behind a long-running campaign to topple the government via infiltrating the country’s institutions, particularly the army, police and the Judiciary. Turkey has also outlawed the Gulen movement, his large organization, in the country and has branded it as the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO). Gulen, however, categorically denied the allegation.

Turkish officials have frequently called on the US to extradite Gulen, but it has taken no concrete measure so far.

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