Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the release was “not an amnesty” but the measure could eventually apply to nearly half of the Turkish prison population which has swelled to over 200,000 since the bungled coup.
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Reuters reported that Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag called the mass release of prisoners a much needed “penal reform” for Turkey stating in twitter that “This measure is not an amnesty”.
The government is extending an existing probation program that will grant 38,000 prisoners an immediate release if they have less than two years left on their sentence. The decree will not apply to inmates in jail on murder, terrorism, domestic abuse or sexual assault charges.
The decrees, published in the country’s Official Gazette, also ordered the dismissal of 2,360 more police officers, more than 100 military personnel and 196 staff at Turkey’s information and communication technology authority, BTK.
The government says the attempted coup, which led to at least 270 deaths, was carried out by followers of a movement led by USA -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who have infiltrated the military and other state institutions.
More than 40,000 people, mainly Kurds, have died since it took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. Since the failed coup in mid July, the cops have picked up, imprisoned or “detained” for interrogation at least 23,000 soldiers and civilians, judges, journalists, teachers and civil servants.
Turkish authorities have prepared an official request for the temporary arrest of United States-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen over his alleged involvement in the coup attempt on July 15, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said Saturday.
Turkey, now grappling with upheaval after an attempted military coup against Erdogan in July, has said it will scrap the deal if isn’t granted visa waivers for its citizens traveling to the EU.
The government’s post coup attempt crackdown has raised criticism from some European nations and human rights organizations who have urged Turkey to show restraint. Gulen denies involvement in the coup.
He also said 4,262 companies and institutions with links to Gulen had been shut.
Meanwhile, police have carried out raids on 44 companies suspected of providing financial support to his movement. It adds: “In a televised address on local Turkish TV channel, A HABER, Bozdag shed some light on the issue, saying, ‘There are a total of 214,000 inmates in prisons right now”.
Gulen, a reclusive cleric who has lived in self-exile in the United States since 1999, has been repeatedly accused of running a “parallel state” since a corruption scandal embroiling then premier Erdogan and several of his ministers erupted in 2013.
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Turkish officials and state-run media say two auto bombings targeting police stations in eastern Turkey have killed at least six people and wounded over 120.
