Turkish authorities have sacked 7,400 civil servants on the first anniversary of the failed military coup.

President Erdogan's government dismissed teachers, academics, military and police officers for alleged links to terror groups, bringing the total number of coup-related dismissals to 110,000.

Around 350 soldiers were also stripped of their ranks in the latest action.

Image: An anniversary site in Istanbul which reads '15 July'

The President also took away the medals of former Galatasaray footballers Hakan Sukur and Arif Erdem, who have supported US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen - the man Mr Erdogan believes was the coup's mastermind.

Sukur and Erdem both left Turkey some time ago and have been living abroad.


Thousands of supporters of the President took to the streets to resist the attempted military coup exactly one year ago - 250 of them were killed.

President Erdogan will lead a National Unity March across the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, which has been renamed Martyrs Bridge to commemorate those who died.

Image: Supporters of President Erdogan after last year's coup was defeated

According to the President and his supporters, the attempted coup was not an attack on him or his government, but an aggressive assault on the Turkish people - and their act of resistance must now be forged into the national memory.

Analysis: New purge as Erdogan celebrates failed coup

Image: Clothes and weapons belonging to soldiers involved in the coup

Mr Erdogan will give a speech in the Turkish parliament in the capital Ankara at 2.32am local time on Sunday to mark the exact moment military jets bombed the building.

More than 50,000 people have been detained since the coup attempt, including journalists, lawyers, human rights activists and opposition MPs.

Opponents of the President accuse him of eroding democracy and the country's secular values.

The Turkish government has said an independent commission will review complaints made by those who feel they have been unfairly arrested or suspended, but critics question the independence of the government-appointed body.