Turkey dismisses over 540 judges, prosecutors

ANKARA

More than 540 judges and prosecutors were dismissed from their posts Thursday as part of an ongoing probe into the Fetullah Terrorist Organization, Turkey’s top judicial board announced.

The general assembly of Turkish Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) decided to dismiss 543 of 648 suspended judges and prosecutors, the board said.

The decision was made under a statutory decree issued in July during Turkey's current three-month state of emergency.

On August 24, HSYK had dismissed a total of 2,847 suspended judges and prosecutors.

The dismissed personnel were accused of being linked to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which the Turkish government blames for the deadly July 15 coup attempt, according to the assembly’s decision.

At least 240 people were martyred in the coup attempt, which the government has said was organized by the followers of Fetullah Gulen, the head of FETO.

Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the Turkish government through the infiltration of state institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

*Reporting by Aylin Sirikli, Ferdi Turkten; Writing by Emin Avundukluoglu