Turkish police detained 32 members of the Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK), some of whom were dismissed under a government decree issued on July 14, who gathered in Diyarbakır’s Yenişehir district on Monday to protest the dismissals and make a public statement.
A total of 7,348 people, including 302 academics, were dismissed from state institutions by a new government decree that went into effect on July 14.
Police told the group that protests were banned due to a state of emergency (OHAL) that was declared in the aftermath of a botched coup attempt in July 2016 and asked them to continue their protests in a building.
The union representatives said they would like to make a statement to draw attention to the situation of their friends who were dismissed under government decree No. 692 on July 14 and started a sit-in.
Police reacted by handcuffing some of the protesters and detaining 32 members of KESK.
The number of people purged and their institutions under the latest government decree is as follows:
“A total of 418 people from the Justice Ministry, 2,303 from the police, 551 from the Religious Affairs Directorate [Diyanet], 45 from the Foreign Ministry, 1,486 from the Interior Ministry, 102 from the Education Ministry, 789 from the Health Ministry, 302 from the Higher Education Board (YÖK), 546 from the Turkish military, 29 from the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) and 235 from the gendarmerie.”
Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since the failed coup attempt.
