Turkey will release some 38,000
prisoners under a penal reform announced on Wednesday as the arrests of
tens of thousands of people suspected of links to last month’s attempted
coup burden overstretched jails.
The reform, extending an existing
probation scheme, was one of a series of measures outlined on Wednesday
in two new decrees under a state of emergency declared after the July 15
failed putsch during which 240 people were killed. The government gave
no reason for the reform.
Turkey’s Western allies worry President
Tayyip Erdogan is using the crackdown to target dissent. Angrily
dismissing Western concerns over stability in the NATO member, Turkish
officials say they are rooting out a serious internal threat.
The decrees, published in the country’s
Official Gazette, also ordered the dismissal of 2,360 more police
officers, more than 100 military personnel and 196 staff at Turkey’s
information and communication technology authority, BTK.
Those dismissed were described as having
links to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses
of orchestrating the putsch when rogue troops commandeered tanks and
jets in an attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen denies involvement
in the coup.
Under the penal reform, convicts with up
to two years left in sentences are eligible for release on probation,
extending the period from one year. The “supervised release” excludes
those convicted of terrorism, murder, violent or sexual crimes.
To be eligible for the scheme, prisoners
must have served half of their sentences. Previously they were required
to have already served two thirds of their sentence.
“This measure is not an amnesty,”
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag wrote on Twitter of the penal reform.
“Around 38,000 people will be released from… jail in the first stage as a
result of this measure.”
He did not say why the reform was needed
but Turkey’s prison population has trebled over the last 15 years.
There were 188,000 prisoners in Turkey as of March, some 8,000 more than
the existing capacity.
Another measure said the president could
appoint as head of the armed forces any general or admiral, removing
the requirement that the military chief be a top commander of the army,
navy or air force. Under another move, the TIB telecoms authority will
be closed.
Teachers, Judges, Executives
Alongside tens of thousands of civil
servants suspended or dismissed, more than 35,000 people have been
detained in the purge. Judges, journalists, police, and teachers are
among those targeted for suspected links to Gulen’s movement.
Turkish police on Tuesday searched the
offices of a nationwide retail chain and a healthcare and technology
company, detaining executives who authorities accuse of helping finance
Gulen’s network.
Erdogan, already accused by critics of
creeping authoritarianism before the coup bid, says Gulen and his
followers infiltrated government institutions to create a ‘parallel
state’ in an attempt to take over the country.
Western criticism of the purge and
Ankara’s demands U.S. officials extradite Gulen have already frayed ties
with Washington and the European Union, increasing tensions over an EU
deal with Turkey to stem the flow of migrants.
Incensed over a perceived lack of
Western sympathy over the coup attempt, Erdogan has also revived
relations with Russia, a detente Western officials worry may be used by
both leaders to pressure the European Union and NATO.
Measures in Wednesday’s decrees will
also enable former air force pilots to return to duty, making up for a
deficit resulting from the dismissal of military pilots in the wake of
the putsch attempt.
Turkey declared a three-month state of emergency on July 21.
Under previous emergency rule decrees,
Turkey had already dismissed thousands of security force members as well
as ordering the closure of thousands of private schools, charities and
other institutions suspected of links to Gulen.
via Reuters/HuffPost
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