Turkey purges thousands of workers on eve of failed coup anniversary

Turkey dismissed more than 7,000 police, civil servants and academics on Friday, the eve of the anniversary of last year's attempted coup.

The latest decree is part of a crackdown triggered by the failed coup, which Turkey says was organized by U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of President Tayyip Erdogan. Gulen denies the allegation.

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In all, Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 150,000 officials, and arrested some 50,000 people from the military, police, judiciary, academia and other sectors.

The latest decree dismissed 2,303 police, including some from senior ranks, alongside 302 academics from universities across the country. The decree also stripped 342 retired officers and soldiers of their ranks and grades.

More than 240 people, most of them civilians, were killed last July when rogue soldiers tried to overthrow Erdogan's government.