Turkey dismisses over 18,000 civil servants linked to terror groups

A total of 18,632 Turkish state employees have been dismissed from their posts by a statutory decree under Turkey's state of emergency over their links with terror groups, according to the official gazette Sunday.

The gazette also said 148 others who had been earlier dismissed from public institutions and organizations were reinstated.

It said 8,998 police officers were ousted from the Security General Directorate, while 649 others were dismissed from the Gendarmerie General Command.

Also, 3,077 personnel from the Land Forces Command, 1,126 from the Naval Forces Command, and 1,949 from the Air Force Command were ousted from the Turkish Army.

Moreover, 1,052 people, including judicial candidates and civil servants were dismissed from the Ministry of Justice.

Twelve associations, three newspapers and a TV channel were shut down.

Also, 1,526 others from the Turkish security forces -- army (324), Security General Directorate (1,167), and Gendarmerie General Command (35) -- who had already been dismissed from their service were also stripped of their ranks.

A total of 199 academics were also dismissed across the country under the statutory decree.

Turkey declared a state of emergency for the first time on July 20, 2016, following the defeated coup by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

In scope of counter terror measures, Turkey has issued public decrees to cut links of terror-related personnel with the government.

State of emergency is expected to be lifted on Monday after announcement of new Cabinet, Premier Binali Yildirim said Thursday.