The Turkish government escalates its wide-ranging crackdown against people it claims have ties to plotters of last week’s attempted coup, firing tens of thousands of public employees across the country.
The dismissals touches every aspect of government life.
Turkish media, in rapid-fire reports, says the Ministry of Education fired 15,200 people across the country; the Interior Ministry 8,777 employees; and Turkey’s Board of Higher Education requested the resignation of 1,577 university deans — akin to dismissing them.
Supporters listen to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he addresses them in front of his residence in Istanbul, early Tuesday, July 19, 2016. (Kayhan Ozer/Pool Photo via AP)
In addition, 257 people working at the office of the prime minister are dismissed and the Directorate of Religious Affairs announces it has sacked 492 staff including clerics, preachers and religious teachers. Turkey’s Family and Social Policy Ministry says it has dismissed 393 personnel.
The firings come on top of the roughly 9,000 people who have been detained by the government, including security personnel, judges, prosecutors, religious figures and others. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency says courts have ordered 85 generals and admirals jailed pending trial.
— AP
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