A new decree issued on Tuesday night purged from their jobs 4,464 people working in government service, including teachers, academics, police officers, soldiers, members of the judiciary and journalists.
According to the new decree, numbered 686, a total of 4,464 civil servants have been dismissed from state bodies that include 10 from the Presidency of the Supreme Court of Appeals, 10 from the Supreme Election Board (YSK), one from the Capital Markets Board (SPK), two from the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ), 80 from Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), two from the General Directorate of Foundations, three from the Ministry of European Union Affairs, 48 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 15 from the Ministry of Finance, 49 from the Interior Ministry, 417 police officers from the Security General Directorate, 893 from the Gendarmerie General Command, 2,585 teachers, public servants from the Ministry of Education, 16 from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, three from the Coast Guard Command and 330 academics from various educational institutions.
Sixteen civil servants were returned to their jobs as part of the new decree.
Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement, a global civil society movement inspired by the views of the US-based Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen.
Over 135,000 people, including thousands within the military, have been purged due to their real or alleged connection to the Gülen movement since the coup attempt, according to a statement by the labor minister on Jan. 10. As of Feb. 1, 89,775 people were being held without charge, with an additional 43,885 in pre-trial detention due to their alleged links to the movement.