Turkey’s Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) on Friday dismissed 202 judges and prosecutors over their links to the faith-based Gülen movement, which Turkish authorities accuse of being behind a failed coup attempt in July last of year.
The decision was taken during a HSYK meeting on Friday evening.
Although the Gülen movement strongly denies having any role in the putsch, the government accuses it of having masterminded the foiled coup. Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, called for an international investigation into the coup attempt, but President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
In the currently ongoing post-coup purge, over 135,000 people, including thousands within the military, have been purged due to their real or alleged connection to the Gülen movement, according to a statement by the labor minister on Jan. 10. As of March 1, 93,248 people were being held without charge, with an additional 46,274 in pre-trial detention.
According to tally by turkeypurge.com, a total of 4,272 judges and prosecutors were purged over alleged coup involvement or terrorist links.