Nearly 100,000 Turkish civil servants fired since failed July coup

Nearly 100,000 Turkish civil servants have been dismissed amid a widespread crackdown in the wake of a failed military coup in July, the country's Labour Minister said on Tuesday.

Some 135,356 civil servants and state officials were investigated and 97,679 released from their duties, Labour Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu told broadcaster CNN Turk.

On Saturday, authorities sacked 8,400 officials, including numerous police officers, soldiers and workers at the Justice Ministry.

Turkey has accused Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in self-imposed exile in the United States, of organising the coup. Gulen denies the charges and the US has, so far, declined to extradite him.

The latest tally of dismissals comes as authorities took 110 businessmen into custody on Tuesday on suspicion of being tied to Gulen, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. The men are part of a group of business representatives arrested over alleged funding of a Gulen movement.

Gulen and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were once allies, but had a falling out years ago.

Since then, Erdogan has focused much of his administration's efforts on rooting Gulen supporters out of key government jobs.    (dpa)

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