Turkey to release 38000 from jail; frees space for plotters

Gulen denies involvement in the coup attempt and has denounced it. He also said 4,262 companies and institutions with links to Gulen have been shut. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Gulen, an elderly Muslim cleric living in Pennsylvania, for fomenting the failed coup and is seeking his extradition from the U.S.

He did not say why the reform was needed but Turkey’s prison population has trebled over the last 15 years. Turkey’s state-run news agency says police teams are conducting operations at three Istanbul courthouses as part of an investigation into the July 15 abortive coup.

Those dismissed were described as having links to USA -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. “But, my valuable citizens, we won’t act in the spirit of vengeance”, Yildirim said during his weekly address to his ruling party’s legislators. “Death penalty is death for one time”. But there are worse ways of dying. “That is an impartial and fair trial”, Yildirim said.

Gulen vehemently rejects the charges but Turkey has embarked on a relentless drive to expel what Erdogan calls his “virus” from all public institutions.

The Turkish prime minister also noted that Turkey and Iran will work on finding a solution to the crisis in Syria.

However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed.

But since the failed putsch, in which rogue soldiers seized tanks and fighter jets in their attempt to overthrow the government, rights groups have documented horrific abuses in Turkish detention centers, including sports centers and courthouses.

The crackdown has raised concerns by the European Union and human rights organisations, who have urged the Turkish government to show restraint.

Wednesday’s decrees also allow the air force to hire new pilots or take back pilots who had resigned or were discharged before the coup to replace pilots who have been arrested or dismissed for alleged participation in the coup or links to Gulen.

Thousands of people have been detained or arrested and tens of thousands more have been dismissed from their jobs in mass purges of suspected followers of Fethullah Gulen.