Turkey sacks 227 judges - nearly 4000 judiciary now dismissed

  • 21/02/2017
President Erdogan is being accused of using the coup as an excuse to round up those that don't back his government
President Erdogan is being accused of using the coup as an excuse to round up those that don't back his government

Turkey has dismissed 227 more judges and prosecutors as part of investigations into last July's failed coup, the state-run Anadolu agency says, meaning close to 4000 members of the judiciary have now been purged.

Turkish authorities have detained, sacked or dismissed more than 100,000 people from the police, military, public service, judiciary, and elsewhere since the abortive coup.

Ankara accuses US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the putsch.

US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen is accused  of starting the coup by the Turkish government (Reuters)
US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen is accused of starting the coup by the Turkish government (Reuters)

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has denied the charge and condemned the coup.

With the latest dismissals, the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) has now dismissed more than 3886 members of the judiciary since the July 15 putsch, Anadolu said.

Rights groups and some Western allies fear President Tayyip Erdogan is using the coup as a pretext to stifle dissent.

The government argues the purges are justified by the extent of the threat to the state on July 15, when rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighter jets, killing at least 240 people.

Reuters