Turkey’s state of emergency body concludes 78 pct of appeals

ANKARA

Turkey’s presidential commission examining state of emergency appeals said on Dec. 26 that 78 percent of applications concerning measures taken after a defeated coup attempt in July 2016 has been concluded.

Turkey’s Inquiry Commission on the State of Emergency measures in a report gave details of applications over measures adopted under the state of emergency decree-laws, such as the dismissal of public officials, scholarship cancellations, annulment of the ranks of retired personnel and the closure of some institutions.

The commission took nearly 132,000 measures, including 125,678 dismissals from public service over alleged links to FETÖ, the terrorist group behind the defeated coup and which conducted a plot to infiltrate the Turkish state.

The commission started its decision-making process in December 2017, and took some 98,300 decisions as of Dec. 26, said the report.

Out of this figure 9,600 of the appeals were accepted while the remaining 88,700 was rejected. According to the reports, there are 28,000 pending applications.

The report also added that some 50 of the accepted decisions are related to re-opening of associations, foundations and television channels which were shut down.

“Accordingly, 78 percent of the applications have been decided within a period of 24 months since the date of the beginning of the commission’s decision-making process,” it said.

A data processing infrastructure was set up in order to receive, archive, and examine applications in an electronic environment, the commission said, adding that information acquired from over 20 institutions and organizations was recorded in the system.

Some 250 staffers, including 80 rapporteurs -- judges, experts, and inspectors -- worked in the application review process.

A total of 490,000 files -- including personnel files transferred from relevant institutions, court files and former applications -- were classified, registered and archived.

The institutions, where the applicants most recently held office, were notified of the commission’s rulings.

Within 60 days starting from the notification date, the Council of Judges and Prosecutors may appeal an annulment action by the commission, the institution or organization where the applicant last held office, said the report.

The applicants can track their status on the commission’s website.

Since the 2016 defeated coup attempt in Turkey, Turkish institutions, including the military, have been working to find and expel elements of FETÖ.

A two-year state of emergency -- which was declared following July 15, 2016 defeated coup -- was lifted on July 20, 2018.

The coup attempt left 251 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.