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Turkey set to release 38000 prisoners, makes space in jails after coup

Sezgin said following the coup attempt, 3,200 people who had been arrested were released, and another 7,000 were released under condition of supervision.

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Yildirim said PKK is serves the same objective as FETO, the terrorist organisation led by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of orchestrating the July 15 coup attempt.

It means convicts who have served half of their prison term will be eligible for parole.

In separate decree, also issued Wednesday, the government dismissed 2,300 more officers from the police force, in addition to another 136 military officers and 196 employees from its information technology authority.

On the existence of a relationship between Gulen and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Korkmaz said it is normal that both sides cooperate to overthrow the Turkish state, and what “concerns us is that both carry out terrorist operations against Turkey and its people”.

It will not apply to convicts guilty of murder, terrorism or state security crimes, or the thousands jailed after the putsch which took place on July 15.

Turkey has meanwhile sent a file to Greece asking for the extradition of eight Turkish soldiers who fled in a helicopter soon after the coup, Anadolu said.

Gulen, who lives in a secluded compound in Pennsylvania, has vehemently denied that he and his supporters were behind the coup attempt.

The government is also planning to shut down the TIB telecommunications regulator and transfer its powers to its parent, an umbrella regulatory body, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said this week.

On Tuesday, police in Istanbul launched simultaneous raids on 44 companies suspected of providing financial support to Gulen’s movement while authorities issued warrants to detain 120 company executives, Anadolu reported.

Birkan was sentenced to 21 years in prison for involvement in prostitution.

Western criticism of the purge and Ankara’s demands that the United States send Gulen home have already frayed ties with Washington and the European Union, increasing tensions over an EU deal with Turkey to stem the flow of migrants.

United States officials have been cautious on the extradition of Gulen, saying they need clear evidence.

In another tense exchange, Turkey lashed out at Germany on Wednesday, saying allegations in a media report that Turkey had become a hub for Islamist groups reflected a “twisted mentality” that tried to target Erdogan.

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Incensed over a perceived lack of Western sympathy over the coup attempt, Erdogan has revived relations with Russian Federation, a detente Western officials worry may be used by both leaders to pressure the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave national flags as they listen to him through a giant screen in Istanbul's Taksim Square on Aug. 10. The country has come down hard on perceived dissidents since a thwarted coup attempt last mon