The Turkish government on Sunday morning dismissed 2,756 personnel from state institutions, including 105 academics from various universities, and also shuttered seven associations, seven foundations, two newspapers and a private company by means of a new state of emergency decree, known as a KHK, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
According to the report, in line with decree No. 695, 637 members of the Turkish armed forces, 350 from the Gendarmerie General Command, 341 from the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), 245 from the Justice Ministry and 61 from the police were dismissed.
The decree also reinstated 115 people who had previously been fired from their jobs.
In August, 922 people, including 120 academics and 190 diplomats were dismissed under decree No. 693 and 694.
Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15 through government decrees issued as part of an ongoing state of emergency.
Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed 249 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President 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.
Amid an ongoing witch-hunt targeting the Gülen movement, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on Dec. 12 that 55,665 people have been jailed and 234,419 passports have been revoked as part of investigations into the Gülen movement since the failed coup attempt last July.
Minister Soylu on Nov. 16 had said 48,739 people had been jailed and eight holdings and 1,020 companies seized as part of operations against the movement.
The Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 169,013 people have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.