Ankara Sacks 7,000+ For Suspected Links to Failed Coup
Local Editor
The Turkish government dismissed more than 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 the 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.
The daily 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 the US-based Turkish cleric and opposition figure Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating and masterminding the coup.
Gulen 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]. He, 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.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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