543 more judges, prosecutors dismissed in coup attempt probe

ANKARA

Turkey’s Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) dismissed 543 more judges and prosecutors on Sept. 1 over links to the Fethullahist Terror Organization/Parallel State Structure (FETÖ/PDY), which was accused of orchestrating the failed coup attempt of July 15.

The total number of dismissed judges and prosecutors increased to 3,390 with the latest dismissals.

On Aug. 24, deputy HSYK chair Mehmet Yılmaz had announced that a total of 2,847 judges and prosecutors had been dismissed in line with a government decree within the terms of the ongoing state of emergency imposed after the coup attempt.

The previously sacked judges included Rüstem Eryılmaz, the former head of the case into the killing of Armenian-origin journalist Hrant Dink in 2007, and Ömer Diken, the head of the former “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer) coup plot case.

Mehmet Ali Pekgüzel, the prosecutor in the Ergenekon coup plot case, was also dismissed.

Turkey has sacked or suspended around 80,000 people from the civil service, judiciary, police forces and courts since July 15.

The government says U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen’s followers spent years infiltrating institutions with the goal of overthrowing the state.