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ISTANBUL — The Turkish authorities have ordered the dismissal of nearly 4,500 civil servants in the latest wave of a purge after last July’s attempted coup, according to a decree published on Thursday.
The Official Gazette said 4,464 people had been fired, including 2,585 employees of the education ministry, 893 members of the gendarmerie and 88 workers at the public television channel TRT.
The sackings included 330 academics who were members of the Higher Council for Teaching (YOK), including a leading specialist on constitutional law, Ibrahim Kaboglu.
The authorities had already arrested more than 41,000 people, and fired or suspended 100,000, after the July 15 attempted coup. Many are teachers, police, magistrates or journalists.
On January 7, the government announced the dismissal of nearly 8,400 civil servants and the closure of 80 associations, including sports clubs.
The dismissals are authorised by the cabinet and require no parliamentary approval under the state of emergency, which has twice been extended and is now due to last until April 19.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames the attempt to overturn him on a US-based Muslim preacher, Fethullah Gulen, who, he says, is being secretly supported by followers in Turkey.
The scale of the crackdown has been fiercely criticised by the European Union and human rights activists.
The failed putsch that left 248 people dead, not including the plotters, and thousands more wounded. — AFP
