Turkey issued a decree, on the basis of which more than eighteen thousand civil servants were released. These are mainly police officers and soldiers. According to the media, it is the last extraordinary measure adopted under the state of emergency that has been repeatedly re-established in Turkey since the coup d'état in 2016. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced after the June election victory that the country would no longer need a state of emergency. According to the media, it should be canceled on Monday.
The extraordinary status was renewed from July 2016 after three months, the current deadline expiring on 18 July. After an unsuccessful coup, according to the UN in Turkey, over 100,000 civil servants were arrested and thousands were arrested. Over fifty thousand Turks have been charged and waiting in court for prisons.
Under the new decree, another 18,632 people lose job, nine thousand of them are policemen and six thousand army. The list also includes about a thousand employees of the Ministry of Justice and 650 people employed by the Ministry of Education.
The Decree also orders the closure of twelve clubs, the abolition of three newspapers and one television station. It also changes the previous measures and allows the re-employment of 148 people released in similar pastures in state services.
Exceptional status is to be canceled on Monday
Turkish media say the state of emergency will be canceled on Monday until Erdogan swears an oath and starts his next mandate. Abolition of the extraordinary measure promised Erdogan in the campaign. Also starting Monday, a new presidential political system will begin to apply as the constitution that the Turks have approved last year in a referendum.
The power will be more strongly concentrated in the hands of the president, who will be able to form a government, issue decrees and set a budget after the abolition of the post of prime minister.
The Human Rights Joint Platform found that more than 112,000 people have been released from Turkey since March until March this year, including eight thousand soldiers, 33,000 staff from the Ministry of Education, and 31,000 Ministry of the Interior. Thousands of others were deposed in lower positions. The opposition in these purges sees an effort to silence all critical voices.
