Turkish parliament dismisses eight executives as crackdown on Gülenists continues
Nuray Babacan – ANKARA
AA photo
Eight top level executives in the Turkish parliament have been removed from duty, while the duty areas of two others have been changed, as the government intensifies its crackdown on the illegal Gülen movement, blamed for orchestrating the failed coup attempt on July 15.Two vice secretary-generals, a law services head and deputy head, a budget services deputy head, a research services head, a press and public relations deputy head and a support services deputy head were all removed from duty at parliament, while two other deputy heads were placed in other departments in the wake of the coup attempt and large-scale operations against the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure (FETÖ/PDY) that came afterwards. Meanwhile, political sources said the crackdown in parliament had been decided by Parliamentary Speaker İsmail Kahraman prior to the attempt.
Some 200 other suspected members of the Gülen movement were also expected to be dismissed soon, while a number of ministries also carried out similar layoffs as part of the crackdown operations.
Youth and Sports Minister Akif Çağatay Kılıç announced that some 245 personnel within his ministry had been laid off, while the Energy Ministry and Customs Ministry said they had ended the duties of 300 and 184 employees, respectively.
The National Defense Ministry also said one of its deputy undersecretaries, along with a major general, two brigadier generals and a commodore, had been suspended from duty.
