Turkey's emergency state body concludes 85% of appeals

ANKARA

Turkey’s presidential commission on the state of emergency has concluded 85% of all applications concerning measures taken in the aftermath of the July 2016 foiled coup bid, according to its latest report released on Friday.

The Inquiry Commission on the State of Emergency Measures gave details of applications on measures adopted under the state of emergency decree-laws, such as the dismissal of public officials, scholarship cancellations, annulment of the ranks of retired personnel, and the closure of some institutions.

The commission took nearly 132,000 measures, including 125,678 dismissals from public service over links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the terrorist group behind the defeated coup and a plot to infiltrate the Turkish state.

The commission started the process in December 2017, and took over 108,000 decisions as of July 3, said the report.

Some 12,200 applications were accepted, 96,000 were rejected, and there are 18,100 pending applications, according to the report.

“Accordingly, 85 percent of the applications have been decided within a period of 30 months since the date of the beginning of the Commission’s decision-making process,” said the report.

A data processing infrastructure was set up to receive, archive, and examine applications electronically, the commission said, adding that information acquired from over 20 institutions and organizations was recorded in the system.

Some 250 staffers, including 80 rapporteurs – judges, experts, and inspectors – worked in the application review process.

A total of 490,000 files – including personnel files transferred from relevant institutions, court files, and former applications – were classified, registered, and archived.

The institutions where the applicants most recently held office were notified of the commission’s rulings, and they are due to reappoint dismissed state employees whose applications were accepted.

Within 60 days starting from the notification date, the Council of Judges and Prosecutors may appeal an annulment action by the commission, the institution, or organization where the applicant last held office, said the report.

The applicants can track their status on the commission's website – https://soe.tccb.gov.tr.

Since the 2016 defeated coup attempt, Turkish institutions, including the military, have been working to find and expel elements of FETO, the group behind the plot.

A two-year state of emergency declared after the July 2016 defeated coup was lifted on July 20, 2018.

A total of 251 people were martyred and nearly 2,200 injured in the coup attempt orchestrated by FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.