Global InformationPurges in Turkey following the 2016 Turkish coup attempt information
| 2016–present purges in Turkey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Turkish government–Gülen movement conflict | |||
  Ankara Istanbul Purges in Turkey following the 2016 Turkish coup attempt (Turkey) | |||
| Date | 16 July 2016 – ongoing (disputed)[1][2][3][4] (7 years, 9 months, 3 weeks and 4 days) | ||
| Location |
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| Status | Ongoing
| ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
| Lead figures | |||
Fethullah Gülen | |||
| Units involved | |||
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| Casualties and losses | |||
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Since 2016, the government of Turkey has conducted a series of purges, enabled by a state of emergency in reaction to the failed coup attempt in 15 July that year.[1][2][3][4] The purges began with the arrest of Turkish Armed Forces personnel reportedly linked to the coup attempt but arrests were expanded to include other elements of the Turkish military, as well as civil servants and private citizens. These later actions reflected a power struggle between secularist and Islamist political elites in Turkey,[18] affected people who were not active in nor aware of the coup, but who the government claimed were connected with the Gülen movement, an opposition group which the government blamed for the coup. Possession of books authored by Gülen was considered valid evidence of such a connection and cause for arrest.[19]
Tens of thousands of public servants and soldiers were purged in the first week following the coup.[20] For example, on 16 July 2016, just one day after the coup was foiled, 2,745 judges were dismissed and detained.[21][22] This was followed by the dismissal, detention or suspension of over 100,000 officials,[23][24][25] a figure that had increased to over 110,000 by early November 2016,[26] over 125,000 after the 22 November decree,[27] reaching at least 135,000 with the January decrees, about 160,000 after the suspensions and arrests decree of April 29[28] and 180,000 after a massive dismissal decree in July 2018. Collectively about 10% of Turkey's 2 million public employees were removed as a result of the purges.[10] Purged citizens are prevented from working again for the government, which has led in many cases to destitution.[29]
In the business sector, the government forcefully seized assets of over a thousand companies, worth between $11[30] and $50–60 billion,[31] on the charge of being related to Gülen and the coup.[30][32] Goods and services produced by such companies were subject to boycott by the public.[33]
The purges also extend to the media, with television channels, newspapers and other media outlets that were seen as critical of the government being shut down, critical journalists being arrested and Wikipedia being blocked, from April 2017 to January 2020.[34][35][36][37][38][39] Since early September 2016, the post-coup emergency state extended to purging Kurdish groups,[40] including the dismissal of over 11,000 Kurdish teachers[41][42][43][44][45][46] and dozens of elected mayors[45][47][48][49] and arrest of the co-chairs of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)[50][51][52] for alleged links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).[53] In August 2018, the Turkish Parliament approved a new "anti-terror" law to replace the state of emergency.[54][55][56]
- ^ a b "Turkey's State Of Emergency Ends, While Erdogan's Power Grows And 'Purge' Continues". NPR. 26 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Turkey ends state of emergency, but eyes tough terror bill". Deutsche Welle. 19 August 2018.
- ^ a b "Turkey Ends Emergency Rule But Erdogan's War on Enemies Not Over". Bloomberg. 18 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Turkey ends state of emergency but continues crackdown". EUobserver. 19 July 2018.
- ^ "Turkey elections: Six arrested for 'insulting Erdogan' on social media ahead of major national polls". The Independent. 24 June 2018. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
- ^ "Turkey orders detention of 132 people in coup probe: agency". Reuters. 26 June 2018.
- ^ "Turkey arrests German for spreading Kurdish propaganda: Anadolu". Reuters. 25 July 2018.
- ^ "The Latest: Parliament speaker says lawmakers safe". Associated Press. 15 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- ^ "Turkey orders detention of more than 400 people with alleged Gulen links". Reuters. 9 June 2020.
- ^ a b OECD (2012), Human Resources Management Country Profiles TURKEY (PDF)
- ^ "Erdogan back in Ankara as thousands hit by Turkey purge". guardian.ng. Guardian Newspapers. AFP. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "240 Turkey's regime supporters killed in failed coup attempt". kuna.net.kw. Istanbul: Kuwait News Agency. 19 July 2016. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "Military says 8,651 soldiers participated in Turkey's coup attempt". Hürriyet Daily News. Ankara. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- ^ "Turkey left reeling after failed coup". The Nubian Times. 20 July 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "208 people killed by coup attempters: Turkey's PM". Hürriet Daily News. Ankara. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "MEB'te 15 bin kişi açığa alındı, 21 bin öğretmenin lisansı iptal" (in Turkish). NTV (Turkey). Retrieved 19 July 2016.
- ^ "Turkey says 103 generals, admirals detained after Turkey's failed coup attempt". Hürriet Daily News. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ Metin Gurcan (12 October 2016). "Power struggle erupts in Turkey's security structure". Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ "Babasının evinde Gülen'in kitapları çıktı" [Gülen's books turned up at his father's house]. Haber10. 13 August 2016. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- ^ "The Scale of Turkey's Purge Is Nearly Unprecedented". The New York Times. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
judiciary_purge_APwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
dailysabah_purgewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Turks See Purge as Witch Hunt of 'Medieval' Darkness". The New York Times. 16 September 2016.
- ^ "Turkey launches mass raids against 'Gulen-linked' businesses". ABC News. 18 August 2016.
- ^ Sariyuce, Isil; Dewan, Angela (20 July 2016). "Turkey declares three-month state of emergency". CNN.com. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ "Turkey draws Western condemnation over arrest of Kurdish lawmakers". Reuters. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
nyt161122was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Reuters0430was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Expulsions, pushbacks and extraditions: Turkey's war on dissent extends to Europe".
- ^ a b David Segal (22 July 2017). "Turkey Sees Foes at Work in Gold Mines, Cafes and 'Smurf Village' - NYTimes.com". Mobile.nytimes.com. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- ^ Perrier, Guillaume (22 June 2018). "Les patrons turcs victimes de la purge d'Erdogan". LesEchos.fr.
- ^ "Turkish state appoints trustees to Aydınlı Group, baklava chain Faruk Güllüoğlu – BUSINESS". Hurriyetdailynews.com. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- ^ "Turkish Businesses Snagged In Government's Post-Coup Crackdown : Parallels". NPR.org. NPR. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- ^ "Turkey Restores Wikipedia After More Than 2-Year Ban". The New York Times. 15 January 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ Letsch, Constanze (31 October 2016). "Turkey shuts 15 media outlets and arrests opposition editor". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- ^ "Counting the closures: Turkey's media shutdown". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- ^ Yeginsu, Ceylan (27 July 2016). "Turkey Expands Purge, Shutting Down News Media Outlets". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- ^ Kingsley, Patrick (30 April 2017). "Turkey Purges 4,000 More Officials, and Blocks Wikipedia". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- ^ "Turkey blocks Wikipedia under law designed to protect national security". The Guardian. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- ^ KINGSLEY, PATRICK (2017), "Amid Turkey's Purge, a Renewed Attack on Kurdish Culture", The New York Times
- ^ "Thousands of Turkish teachers suspended". 8 September 2016.
- ^ "Turkey suspends 11,500 teachers as Erdogan declares largest operation against Kurds". DW.COM. Reuters.
- ^ Payton, Matt (9 September 2016). "Turkey just suspended 11,000 teachers". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
- ^ "Mass Suspensions of Teachers Stoke Concern in Turkey's Kurdish Region". VOA.
- ^ a b "Country Policy and Information Note Turkey: Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)" (PDF). gov.uk. UK Government / Home office.
- ^ Sariyuce, Isil; Narayan, Chandrika. "Turkey suspends over 11,000 teachers for suspected terror links". CNN.
- ^ Yeginsu, Ceylan; Timur, Safak (4 November 2016). "Turkey's Post-Coup Crackdown Targets Kurdish Politicians". The New York Times.
- ^ "Turkish AK politician was shot dead in front of his Kurdish home". Newsweek. Reuters. 14 September 2016.
- ^ Nordland, Rod (10 December 2016). "As Turkey Cracks Down, Kurdish Mayors Pack Bags for Jail". The New York Times.
arresting at least 45 mayors of Kurdish towns beginning in late October
- ^ Shaheen, Kareem (4 November 2016). "Turkey arrests pro-Kurdish party leaders amid claims of internet shutdown". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
- ^ "Turkey HDP: Blast after pro-Kurdish leaders Demirtas and Yuksekdag detained". 4 November 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2016 – via bbc.co.uk.
- ^ Nordland, Rod (10 December 2016). "As Turkey Cracks Down, Kurdish Mayors Pack Bags for Jail". The New York Times.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
2016.09 antikurdswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
aljazeerapurgeswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
japantimespurgeswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Turkey approves new 'anti-terror' law to replace state of emergency". The Times of Israel. 25 July 2018.