BY HANK REICHMAN

According to a report on the website turkeypurge.com, 5,717 teachers at 117 universities have been dismissed from their jobs in Turkey due to government decrees issued under a state of emergency following the failed coup of July 2016.  A total of nine government decrees issued between September 2016 and August 2017 dismissed thousands of scholars and closed more than a hundred universities.  Approximately 380 professors were dismissed for signing a peace declaration accusing Turkish government of carrying out heavy-handed operations in Turkey’s southeastern region, while 2,808 academics working at 15 Gülen-affiliated universities were dismissed as the universities were closed.  Only 140 of the dismissed academics were returned to their jobs under another government decree.

A July BBC report said at least 23,427 academics either lost their jobs at universities when their contracts were terminated, they were dismissed from their positions, or the universities where they worked were closed down.  Another state decree in September targeted 15,000 research assistants for their alleged links to the Gülen movement. They were part of an Assistant Professor Training Program (ÖYP) that was launched in 2010 to meet the need for academics in Turkey.