Turkey purges thousands more
Academics to pay for ‘treachery’ with their jobs
ISTANBUL // Turkey has dismissed 4,464 civil servants including teachers, police officers and academics over their suspected links with terrorist organisations, in the latest purge since last July’s attempted coup.
Ibrahim Kaboglu, an academic and constitutional expert who has expressed opposition to constitutional changes giving president Recep Tayyip Erdogan greater executive powers, was among those ousted under the decree published in the Official Gazette.
The dismissals drew criticism on social media. Main opposition CHP politician Sezgin Tanrikulu expressed her dismay on Twitter, saying Turkey’s universities were being destroyed. Turkey has removed or suspended more than 125,000 people and formally arrested 40,000 since the July attempt by a group of rogue military to overthrow Mr Erdogan.
Turkey has accused exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the coup, which he denies. Human rights groups and some European countries have said Mr Erdogan is using the current state of emergency to quash dissent. But Ankara said the measures are necessary to root out supporters of the coup.
Among the 330 academics dismissed were those who signed a petition last year criticising military action against Kurdish militants.
Mr Erdogan said the academics would pay for their “treachery”.
Hundreds of people have been killed since Turkey’s conflict with the Kurdistan Workers Party reignited in July 2015.
The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.