Amnesty International Slams Turkey Over Post-coup Crackdown

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“No End in Sight” is the title of the British-based Amnesty International report into the ongoing crackdown in Turkey, after last July’s failed coup.

The 21-page report focuses on what it describes as the arbitrary dismissals of more than 100,000 public service workers, since the introduction of emergency rule after a botched military takeover.

“People are losing not only their jobs, but also their professional careers are destroyed; their family lives are destroyed; this is a disastrous situation facing a vast number of people,” warns Andrew Gardner, Amnesty’s Turkey researcher, “and there appears no end in sight.”

The Amnesty report says mass firings cover all fields of public service, including the armed forces, police, teachers, doctors and academics, as well as people working across all ministries and local government.

The report was compiled from interviews of human rights lawyers, local NGOs, trade unions and those who’ve been dismissed. It claims that those fired are provided with only “generalized justification” and no specific evidence against them. All dismissals are done by presidential decrees using emergency powers.

Ankara claims the crackdown is necessary due to the unprecedented threat posed by the coup attempt, in which more than 200 people died. Followers of the U.S. based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen are blamed, with the government arguing that many have infiltrated all parts of the Turkish state, and continue to pose a threat.

The Amnesty report acknowledges the severity of the July coup, and says all those involved should be brought to justice. But it claims the investigation through 33 interviews of those fired indicates no evidence of any connection to the coup, and that the crackdown is more about silencing criticism.