With three new decrees that Turkey issued on Friday night enabled by state of emergency powers, thousands more people, including engineers, teachers, doctors, academics, judges, prosecutors, police officers, soldiers and diplomats, have been purged from public service and an additional 83 associations shut down.
The new decrees are numbered 679, 680 and 681 and are an addition to several others that have led to the purge of more than 115,000 people since a failed coup on July 15.
According to the new decrees, 149 members of the naval forces, 164 from the air forces, 838 civil servants from the Ministry of Health and 2,687 police officers as well as eight staff members of the Council of State were dismissed, while the new decrees also allow the police to have access to information on the identities of Internet users.
Among those purged, Turkey’s Justice Ministry fired 1,699 employees, mostly court clerks, prison staff and judge candidates.
In addition to thousands of previous dismissals, 649 academics are being let go from universities.
Four military attaches posted to Turkish embassies in the US, Russia, Italy and Netherlands were also fired by Turkey’s Coast Guard as part of the new decrees. In addition, 160 officers were dismissed from Turkey’s naval forces, 435 from the land forces.
According to the new decrees, Turkey, which has the second largest army in NATO, dismissed an additional 168 pilots from its air forces.
The new decrees also reopened 11 local newspapers that were shut down after the failed coup.