Turkey Dismisses 7,000 More Individuals on the Anniversary of the Failed Coup

On the anniversary of Turkey's failed coup, the government announced the dismissal of 7,000 more individuals from the police, military, and government staff. In addition to these 7,000, nearly 50,000 have been arrested and around 100,000 have been dismissed from their jobs over the past year. According to AFP, the dismissal order for these 7,000 was issued on the night of the coup anniversary. The Turkish government has declared July 15 as an official holiday, naming it 'Democracy and Unity Day' to commemorate the failure of the coup. Anadolu Agency reported that with the decree issued on Friday, 7,563 individuals were dismissed and 350 retired military personnel were stripped of their ranks. Hurriyet newspaper also reported that 2,300 of these individuals are from the police forces. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government holds Fethullah Gülen, a dissident cleric residing in the U.S., responsible for last year's coup, although Gülen has again denied any involvement. Last year, a group of Turkish military personnel attempted to overthrow Erdoğan's government by bringing tanks into the streets and flying fighter jets and helicopters, but they were defeated by Erdoğan's supporters and police forces, resulting in 249 deaths. Since last year, a state of emergency has been in effect in Turkey, under which many media outlets have been shut down and numerous opposition figures have been arrested. In protest against the state of emergency, hundreds of thousands of supporters of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People's Party, demonstrated in Istanbul on July 9. Kılıçdaroğlu walked the 450-kilometer route from Ankara to Istanbul over 25 days, chanting 'Justice.' He and his party condemned last year's coup but oppose Erdoğan's government. However, the Turkish government has labeled Kılıçdaroğlu's march as a publicity stunt, and Erdoğan has accused him of supporting the coup plotters and 'terrorists.' In this context, Turkey summoned the U.S. ambassador in Ankara. The ongoing arrests in Turkey include the trial of two teachers and a hunger strike by a French photographer. The U.S. Secretary of State praised the resistance against the coup in Turkey. Turkey has arrested over a thousand individuals on charges of connections to Gülen's group.