Turkey dismisses over 260 officials with new state of emergency decree
ANKARA – Anadolu Agency
Turkey has dismissed 262 personnel from various institutions with a new statutory decree issued under the state of emergency.
The new statutory decree was published in the Official Gazette on Jan. 12. Under the decree, 48 personnel from the Turkish Armed Forces – including 44 soldiers – were expelled.
Among the dismissed, 18, including 16 soldiers, were from land forces, and 30 others, including 28 soldiers, were from naval forces.
Prosecutors last year said they would review legal cases against more than 11,000 people accused of using the ByLock messaging app, after it was revealed that some suspects had unintentionally used it after following a link from another app.
The new decree also reinstated 1,823 people who had been dismissed from their jobs for allegedly using the ByLock app, an encrypted mobile phone application used by members of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) to communicate during and after the 2016 coup attempt.
Among the reinstated were 81 land forces personnel, 20 naval forces personnel and 22 air forces personnel.
Reinstatements came after the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s office said on Dec. 27, 2017 that 11,480 GSM number users were found to have been directed to the ByLock app “without their consent.”
ByLock was used by FETÖ members before and during last year’s defeated coup attempt.
Since the coup attempt, more than 50,000 people, including civil servants and security personnel, have been jailed pending trial and some 150,000 suspended or dismissed from their jobs.
Separately, 214 other state officers and 48 military personnel were dismissed from their posts and two media outlets were shut down in the same decree.
FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fethullah Gülen are widely believed to have orchestrated the 2016 coup attempt, which left 250 people dead and injured nearly 2,200.
Arrest warrants for 70 FETÖ suspects
Turkish police launched raids across 16 provinces on Jan. 11 to detain dozens of teachers suspected of FETÖ links.
Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor has issued arrest warrants for a total of 70 teachers who were former staff members of FETÖ-linked schools closed by an emergency decree, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.
