Turkey has removed ‘over 4,000 judges, prosecutors after coup’

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan wave national flags as they wait for his arrival at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, April 17, 2017

Turkey has removed more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors on suspicion of links to last year’s failed coup, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Friday.

In a speech in Ankara, Bozdag said the judiciary had been cleared of supporters of the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for the July 15 attempted putsch.

More than 100,000 people in the police, judiciary, civil service and private sector have been sacked or suspended from their jobs due to alleged links to the coup, something that has unnerved Turkey‘s Western allies and rights groups.