Close to 51,000 Turks were expelled from public service in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt for alleged links — direct or indirect — with Fethullah Gulen’s congregation, which Ankara holds responsible for the putsch and calls the Fethullah Gulen Terror Organization (FETO). The Sept. 1 purge — carried out through legislative decrees, a tool made available by the state of emergency — included administrators and employees from various institutions, most prominently in the military, in the police and in the education sector. Then, last week, 11,285 teachers were suspended in the mainly Kurdish southeast for activities “supportive” of the Kurdistan Workers Party, a designated terrorist organization, and its extensions. The figure is expected to reach 14,000 in the coming days.
The hunt for FETO supporters in the public sector is also continuing. According to the daily Sabah, another 40,000 people have been put in a “gray” category, risking expulsion if their suspected bonds with the group are “clearly established.”
