By Ben Kerrigan
Turkey has sacked up to 15,000 employees in the education ministry, 257 at the Prime Ministers office, and 492 clerics at the directorate for religious affairs.
On top of that, 1,500 university deans were forced to resign, over 9,000 police officers, 2,700 judges and prosecutors have all been the scapegoats of this pervasive crackdown in the wake of last week’s coup plot
More than 29 websites critical of the government have also been shut down, in a highly disturbing move that strangles the Freedom of expression, fundamentally protected by the Human Rights Act. 1998.
Humans Rights group, Amnesty international, in a statement said :
“The sheer number of arrests and suspicions since Friday is alarming and we are monitoring the situation very closely”.
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However, Turkey has explained the crackdown as a “legitimate security operation to safeguard the country in the aftermath of the failed coup.”
The Turkish government is in the process of sending a dossier of evidence to America required for the extradition of American based cleric, Fethillaz Cullen, whom it accuses of orchestrating the coup.
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U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry, has emphasised the need for Turkey to produce hard evidence, not a just allegation if Cullen is to be extradited.
The unfolding drama in Turkey will go down in history as one of the most radical and controversial ever taken by a government. The government has a number if supporters among the population, with many others cynical about the entire process so far.
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