The appearance of the name of a deceased soldier in the latest state of emergency decree on Tuesday raises suspicions that lists for the purges had been prepared in advance by the government.
The government issued yet another decree purging 15,000 more civil servants from positions in the early hours of Tuesday. The name of noncommissioned officer Esat Kalkan was also on the list of those expelled from the military although he died in Afghanistan on Aug. 14, 2016.
The mayor of Ankara’s Mamak district, Mesut Akgül, posted a photo on Aug. 18 from a visit to the deceased soldier’s family to extend condolences.
The Turkish government has been undertaking the most massive purge in its history since a failed coup attempt on July 15. Described as a “great gift of God” by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the coup has served as a pretext for dismissing over a 100,000 people and cracking down on dissent.
As part of new state of emergency decrees, the government dismissed more than 15,000 public servants, including 1,988 from the military, 7,586 from police force and 5,749 from other state institutions, over links to a failed military coup.
The decrees, which have the force of law, were published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday.
According to the two new decrees, numbered 677 and 678, a total 9,574 staff members, including 1,988 from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), and 7,586 from the Security General Directorate including police chiefs, have been permanently dismissed for allegedly “being members of terrorist organizations or organizations [or] groups that were listed by the National Security Council as acting against the security of the state.”
Moreover, a total of 5,749 public servants working at various ministries, the Higher Education Board (YÖK), the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) and other state institutions have been suspended due to their alleged links to the Gülen movement, a civil society movement accused by Turkey’s government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of masterminding the coup attempt in Turkey on July 15.
In line with the new decrees, 550 foundations, nine media outlets, including seven local newspapers, one magazine and one local radio station, and 19 private hospitals have also been shut down over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)/Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the Gülen movement or the far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C).
The number of media outlets which have been closed down since July 15 has exceeded 170.