After being sworn into the presidency this past Sunday with an expanded set of executive powers, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued an emergency decree firing close to 20,000 state employees for alleged connections to terrorist groups. The passports of these employees will also be rescinded, forcing them to stay within Turkey.

This new round of firings comes close to the 2-year anniversary of the attempted Turkish coup, which ushered in a state of emergency that has been in effect since the attempted coup. Over 100,000 state employees have been fired by emergency decree in this two-year period.

These firings are part of a larger crackdown, which has led to the arrest of nearly 50,000 people many of whom are still awaiting trial for alleged connections to terrorist groups since the coup.

statista