Turkish purges

Turkey's highest judicial regulatory body dismissed 227 judges and prosecutors on Feb. 20 over their alleged links to U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, who is accused of masterminding the July 15, 2016 coup attempt that left 248 killed and nearly 2,200 wounded, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.        

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım over the phone on Feb. 9 that Turkish-U.S. relations were entering a "new day," as the new director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, was also in Ankara as part of his first overseas trip since taking office. 

It is not deliberate if Turkey makes some mistakes when going after the hundreds of thousands of people suspected of links to the Gülen Movement under the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, accused of orchestrating the July 2016 failed coup attempt, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Feb. 2. 

Turkey has sent a new file to the U.S. to beef up its evidences demanding the extradition of Fethullah Gülen, the Pennsylvania-based leader of the Gülenist movement, which is widely believed to have orchestrated the July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan has been staging a quick tour of Africa covering three countries in four days. 

In his visits to Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar, he had two topics on the agenda: 

1- Asking the leaders of those countries to clean their government system of the influence of Fethullah Gülen, the Turkish Islamist preacher living in the United States, and

An Istanbul court trying 62 soldiers on allegations that they raided Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport on the night of the July 15, 2016, coup conducted its first trial on Jan. 23 in the absence of 34 on-duty soldiers who are currently participating in Turkey's Euphrates Shield operation in northern Syria. 

The Gülenist network is a threat not only to Turkey but to all the countries in which it operates, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said during a state visit to Tanzania.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that Turkey is in "a new war of liberation," as he commented on events that unfolded in Turkey in 2016.

"Turkey has been waging a new war of liberation in the recent years," President Erdoğan said in his New Year's speech on Dec. 31, adding that Turkey is under "a major attack."

Turkey's Education Ministry has suspended 1,980 civil servants - including teachers - over suspicions they are linked to the movement of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, state-run Anadolu Agency reported Dec. 21.
 
The Education Ministry announced that the personnel were suspended.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Dec. 15 accused Turkey of "silencing" independent media after the failed July 15 coup attempt.

In a report, the U.S.-based rights watchdog said Turkey's assault on critical journalism began several years ago and had steadily sharpened since 2014, accelerating further since the attempted takeover.