Amnesty laments treatment of Turkey purge victims

Amnesty said many were fired with no explanations given, therefore making it hard to challenge the dismissals.
Amnesty said many were fired with no explanations given, therefore making it hard to challenge the dismissals.


Date posted: November 1, 2018

Almost 130,000 public sector workers fired by decree during post-coup state of emergency due to alleged links to plotters.

ANKARA – Amnesty International on Thursday criticised what it called the “shameful” treatment of Turkish civil servants who were dismissed after the 2016 failed overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Almost 130,000 public sector workers were fired by decree during a post-coup state of emergency because of their alleged links to the plotters, terrorist organisations or other groups posing a threat to national security.

Those who believe they were wrongfully sacked can apply to a special commission to have their case reviewed and either be reinstated or compensated.

However, Amnesty said many were fired with no explanations given, therefore making it hard to challenge the dismissals.

A majority are still “awaiting justice” and face “an uncertain future”, Amnesty said, adding that so far only 6,000 had returned to their jobs.

The dismissals included more than 33,500 teachers and 31,500 police officers.

The commission has “failed to uphold international standards and is acting as a de facto rubber stamp for the initial flawed decisions,” Andrew Gardner, Amnesty’s Turkey strategy and research manager, said.

The “whole process is a shameful affront to justice”, he added in a statement.

The rights group said the lack of an effective appeals process was “one of the worst human rights violations of the state of emergency period”.

Amnesty also criticised the “innocuous” reasons given for dismissals. It said that the reasons given by the commission for upholding sackings often “lack merit and foregrounding in law”.

The commission has only issued rulings in a third of cases so far, of which less than seven percent were “positive decisions”.

Turkey accuses the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen and his movement of ordering the attempted putsch, claims which he strongly denies.

His movement is described by Ankara as the “Fethullah Terrorist Organisation” (FETO).

Turkish authorities say the purges are necessary to cleanse the “virus” of the Gulen movement’s infiltration of state institutions.

Although the state of emergency ended in July, Amnesty says a recently approved law still allows “summary dismissals” of public sector workers.

Source: Middle East Online , October 25, 2018


Related News

Trustees seize control of schools in government-led move

A judge in İstanbul has ordered that trustees be appointed to 12 companies, including the FEM and Anafen prep schools established by people sympathetic to the faith-based Gülen movement for allegedly being affiliated with Kaynak Holding.

US State Department ‘Can’t Imagine’ Accepting Erdogan Offer to Trade Hostage Pastor for Gulen

“President Erdogan’s suggestion that the U.S. should make a hostage-style prisoner swap for an innocent American imprisoned in Turkey is appalling and will not be taken seriously,” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said. Brunson’s is not the first case that has resulted in a Western country accusing Erdogan of hostage diplomacy.

We the pious did not feel for the suffering of the Kurds

There’s even a television channel named “Dunya TV” founded by Fethullah Gulen’s followers and it broadcasts in Kurdish. An attorney in our Abant Meeting said he’s had some suspicions about our sincerity but he said the atmosphere in the meeting has persuaded him.

Prominent Alevi leader welcomes Gülen’s remarks on bridge controversy

HÜSEYİN AYDIN, İSTANBUL Fermani Altun, head of the World Ehl-i Beyt Foundation, a leading Alevi association, has welcomed Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s recent remarks in which he stressed Alevi-Sunni brotherhood amidst an ongoing debate over the naming of a new bridge after an Ottoman sultan considered controversial by Alevis. In a speech broadcast on herkul.org on Wednesday, […]

Parents of Nigerian-Turkish International College students decry call to close schools

Mr. Abudulahi, a professor, added that the schools were playing very significant role in the development of education in Nigeria and should not be closed. He said that the school was one of the most secured in the country, adding that even in the hit of Boko Haram activities in the North ast, it remained open in Yobe. He further added that so long as the NTIC had operated within the laws of Nigeria, it should be allowed to remain in operation.

Turkish family kept at Kiev airport for days at Turkey’s request

A Turkish family that was reportedly detained by Ukrainian authorities on Thursday, have been kept in a room at Kiev Boryspil Airport for three days, waiting to be deported to Turkey, according to a video recording the family members posted on social media.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

‘My 5-month old son is slowly going blind in prison,’ says jailed mother

Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy On Assault on Press Freedom in Turkey Senate Floor

Fethullah Gulen challenges Erdogan, calls for international probe into Turkey coup allegations

Lord Mitchell pays a visit to Turkish School

Coup plotter or moderate religious leader? Finnish State TV Yle meets Turkey’s most wanted man

Turkish Schools inspired by Gulen becoming global brands

Norway reports 409 Turkish asylum seekers in past 18 months

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News