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Turkey dismisses thousands more police, civil servants and academics

Turkey dismisses thousands more police, civil servants and academics

By REUTERS

Supporters of President Tayyip Erdogan wave Turkish flags as shirts hung on gallows are seen in the foreground during a trial for soldiers accused of attempting to assassinate the president on the night of the failed last year's July 15, 2016 coup, in Mugla, Turkey, on July 14, 2017. Photo: Reuters

ANKARA:  Turkey dismissed more than 7,000 police, civil servants and academics on Friday, the eve of the anniversary of last year's attempted coup.

The latest decree is part of a crackdown triggered by the failed coup, which Turkey says was organised by US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of President Tayyip Erdogan. Gulen denies the allegation.

In all, Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 150,000 officials, and arrested some 50,000 people from the military, police, judiciary, academia and other sectors.

The latest decree dismissed 2,303 police, including some from senior ranks, alongside 302 academics from universities across the country. The decree also stripped 342 retired officers and soldiers of their ranks and grades.

More than 240 people, most of them civilians, were killed last July when rogue soldiers tried to overthrow Erdogan's government.