Turkey has dismissed more than 8,000 civil servants for alleged ties to terror organizations, in the latest purge under a state of emergency imposed following the failed July 15 coup attempt. The latest dismissals were announced on the Turkish government's Official Gazette late Friday. They include 2,687 police officers, 1,699 Justice Ministry employees and 631 academics. They join more than 100,000 people already suspended or dismissed. Turkey's crackdown through dismissals and the arrest of some 41,000 people was begun to root out followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. The government claims he orchestrated the coup attempt; Gulen denies involvement. The purge has been expanded to include ties to other "terror organizations," including alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party. The latest decree also closed down 83 associations, bringing the number of associations shut for alleged ties to terror organizations to nearly 1,500. Eleven local newspapers were allowed to reopen under Friday's decree. More than 140 media organizations have been ordered closed since the failed coup. According to Platform 24, a press freedom initiative for independent journalism, 115 journalists have been imprisoned under the state of emergency. — AP
