Turkish Government Fires Thousands More as 2016 Coup Blowback Continues
01:37 25.12.2017
Turkey has fired 2,756 more people from its public service sector for alleged ties to terror groups in reaction to 2016's attempted military coup.
Two government decrees published in the Official Gazette on Sunday revealed that that those dismissed include 637 military personnel, 360 gendarmerie force members and 150 academics or other university personnel. Two local newspapers, 14 associations and one health clinic were also shut down by the government, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
An increasingly autocratic Turkish government continues to maintain that US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen is responsible for the July 2016 coup and has labeled his supporters as terrorists. Gulen has denied the accusations against him. After the coup, Turkey declared a state of emergency and the government arrested some 50,000, firing over 110,000 civil servants for alleged ties to Gulen or other militant groups.
The government claims that purges and arrests are necessary to remove a threat allegedly posed by Gulen and his supporters, although global critics note that Ankara and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are using power to muffle cultural and political dissent.
After a defendant accused of having ties to the coup gained popular acclaim by wearing a t-shirt with the word "hero" in court, male defendants on trial for terrorism charges in Turkey will now be forced to wear drab almond and grey uniforms, according Sunday's decree. A dress code for female defendants has not yet been announced.
© Sputnik
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