Turkey Purge

Turkey suspends 540 more military personnel over alleged coup link

As part of a post-July 15 coup attempt witch-hunt against the Gülen movement in the military, 540 more members of the military were temporarily suspended on Wednesday, the Cumhuriyet daily reported. According to the report 113 of the suspended personnel are from the navy, while 427 are part of the air forces. 33 military members […]

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66 more judges, prosecutors dismissed by Turkey’s top judicial body

Turkey’s top judicial body, the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), has dismissed 66 more judges and prosecutors over alleged ties to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization, a term the government uses to describe the Gülen movement. The official Anadolu news agency reported that the judges and prosecutors were dismissed after the completion of an

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Tarkan’s ‘Cuppa’ a ‘coup’ song, claims pro-gov’t journalist

Columnist Bayram Zilan from the pro-government Milat daily argued on Wednesday that Turkey’s iconic pop singer Tarkan’s newest song “Cuppa” could have been composed for the July 15 coup attempt, saying that the song’s name would have been changed from “Cuppa” to “Cunta,” a Turkish word that corresponds to “junta, if the coup attempt had been successful.” “The fact that

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At gov’t urging, Turkey’s intel service sees record informants on Gülenists

With several top government officials urging citizens to report sympathizers of Gülen movement to law enforcement authorities, the number of people informing on suspected Gülenists to Turkey’s national intelligence (MİT) service skyrocketed from some 2,000 to nearly 10,000 after the July 15 coup attempt. As the government holds the Gülen movement responsible for a failed

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One-third of Turkish journalists lose job as gov’t tightens grip over media

The number of Turkey-based journalists who have lost their jobs since July 15, has reached 3,000, bringing up the total number of unemployed media personnel to edge above 10,000. The landmark threshold of 10,000 accounts for one third of the total employment in Turkey’s media sector, according to the the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS). In a press conference on

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Pro gov’t journalists discuss if Gülen’s drinking tea is a secret signal

During a TV program recently aired on the pro-government Haber-Turk station, Sabah daily columnists Ferhat Ünlü and Metehan Demir and TV anchor Didem Arslan Yılmaz discussed whether US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s drinking black tea sends a secret signal to followers of the Gülen movement. Ünlü stated during the program that he received a

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2 Turkish ministers reportedly use mobile app that caused hundreds of detentions

Two ministers from Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been found by security authorities to be using a smart phone application named ByLock that caused hundreds of detentions in the wake of a coup attempt on July 15, the Sözcü daily reported on Sunday. Sözcü claimed that authorities deciphered ByLock and found that the

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SUNDAY’S TALLY: 40 arrested, 87 others detained over coup charges

At least 40 people were arrested, while 87 others were detained over the past 24 hours, according to Turkish news agencies. Police carried out the operations in 8 provinces across Turkey. With most of the arrestees being businessmen, those arrested over the past day also included teachers and university personnel.

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Turkey detains another 15 academics over use of ‘suspected’ mobile app

Fifteen academics who were claimed to be using ByLock, a smart phone messaging application, were detained on Saturday as part of a witch-hunt targeting the Gülen movement. Detention warrants issued for 23 faculty members from Turkey’s Ege University. While 15 of them have been so far detained during operations in İzmir, Manisa and Ankara provinces,

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ENCJ considers suspending HSYK’s observer status over unfair dismissals

The Brussels-based European Networks of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) is set to hold an extraordinary general meeting during which it will discuss the suspension of the observer status of Turkey’s Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) over rule of law concerns, in December. In a written statement issued on Sept. 28, ENCJ said HSYK’s

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