Turkey fires thousands amid fears of terror ties

Turkey’s government has issued an emergency decree dismissing thousands of public servants for alleged links to terrorist groups.

The decree, published in the Official Gazette yesterday, sacked 18,632 civil servants, including nearly 9,000 police, some 6,000 members of the military and hundreds of teachers and academics.

Their passports will be cancelled.

Turkey has been under a state of emergency for nearly two years, declared after a failed coup attempt in 2016. The government blames a Us-based cleric for orchestrating the coup and has sacked or arrested people suspected of links to him. The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, denies the allegations. The purge has since been broadened to include other “terror groups”, with more than 130,000 people dismissed.

The decree is expected to be the last of a series of emergency laws as Turkey’s ruling system will transform into an executive presidency today, after last month’s elections.