Interior Ministry suspends 8,777 officials after Turkey's failed coup attempt

ISTANBUL







Personnel suspended from their duties on July 18 included 7,899 police officers, 614 gendarmerie officers, 30 provincial governors and 47 district governors.



The suspended police officers were called to the provincial police headquarters throughout the night and their weapons and police IDs were confiscated.



More than 7,500 suspects in the military and the judiciary, including top commanders and supreme court judges, have been detained in the wake of the failed coup attempt according to Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım.



The operation on alleged supporters of Fethullah Gülen, the U.S.-based scholar that Ankara accuses of being behind the coup attempt, which failed as of July 16, has also spread to the top judiciary.



Ankara has suspended the annual leave of more than three million civil servants nationwide until further notice, according to a government order published on July 18.



Civil servants already on leave will return to their posts as soon as possible, the order said.



The Constitutional Court has launched disciplinary action against two of its judges over alleged links to Gülen.



Judges Alparslan Altan and Erdal Tercan were detained one day after the coup attempt. The high court has now appointed a rapporteur who will prepare an initial report on the claims, which he will then submit to the General Council of the Constitutional Court, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on July 18.



If the General Council approves the launching of a full investigation, the high court will appoint a team of three to conduct the necessary investigation. The fate of Altan and Tercan will then be decided by the General Council in line with the findings of the report.



The move against the two judges is part of a massive removal of thousands of judges and prosecutors following the coup attempt.



The Interior Ministry has suspended 8,777 officials following the failed coup attempt of July 15, including police officers, governors and gendarmerie officers, Anadolu Agency has reported.



