Turkish minister of labor Mehmet Müezzinoğlu said on Friday that since the coup attempt of July 15, a total of 122,177 people have been investigated over Gülen movement links since the government argues the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen masterminded the coup and pursues a massive purge against the real and perceived sympathizers of the movement.
Talking to news channel NTV, Müezzinoğlu provided the latest tally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)’s relentless purge against critics. According to official numbers, a total of 87,228 people have been removed from public sector jobs while 35,549 people are temporarily suspended. The minister added that 17,020 people in the public sector were reinstated to their positions.
Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Despite Gülen and the movement having denied the accusation, Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government launched a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
Turkey’s unprecedented witchhunt so far resulted in imprisonment of 41,752 people as of December 30 according to the tally of turkeypurge.com
Over 6 thousand academics were dismissed as nearly 4 thousand judges and prosecutors were purged by means of decrees and without a due process.
