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Thursday March 28, 2024

Turkish authorities fire more than 2,800 judges, prosecutors

By REUTERS
August 24, 2016

ISTANBUL: Turkish authorities fired more than 2,800 judges and prosecutors on Wednesday, in the latest purge related to the July 15 coup, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.

Turkey has sacked or suspended some 80,000 people from the civil service, judiciary, police and courts following the attempted putsch, which it blames on followers of the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

The government says Gulen's followers spent years infiltrating institutions with the goal of overthrowing the state. The cleric, who has lived in self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania since 1999, denies the charge and has condemned the coup.