Since 2016, the government of Turkey has conducted a series of purges, enabled by a state of emergency in reaction to the failed coup attempt on 15 July that year. The purges began with the arrest of Turkish Armed Forces personnel reportedly linked to the coup attempt, but arrests were expanded to include other elements of the Turkish military, civil servants, and private citizens. Later actions reflected a power struggle between secularist and Islamist political elites in Turkey, which affected people who were not active in nor aware of the coup but who the government claimed were connected with the Gülen movement, an opposition group which the government blamed for the coup. Possession of books authored by Gülen was considered valid evidence of such a connection and cause for arrest.
Tens of thousands of public servants and soldiers were purged in the first week following the coup. For example, on 16 July 2016, one day after the coup was foiled, 2,745 judges were dismissed and detained. This was followed by the dismissal, detention or suspension of over 100,000 officials, a figure that had increased to over 110,000 by early November 2016, over 125,000 after the 22 November decree, reaching at least 135,000 with the January decrees, about 160,000 after the suspensions and arrests decree of April 29 and 300,000 by February 2025. Collectively about 10% of Turkey's 2 million public employees were removed as a result of the purges. Purged citizens are prevented from working again for the government, which has led in many cases to destitution.
In the business sector, the government forcefully seized assets of over a thousand companies, worth between $11 billion and $50–60 billion, on the charge of being related to Gülen and the coup. Goods and services produced by such companies were subject to boycott by the public.
The purges also extend to the media, with television channels, newspapers and other media outlets that were seen as critical of the government being shut down, critical journalists being arrested and Wikipedia being blocked, from April 2017 to January 2020. Since September 2016, the post-coup emergency state extended to purging Kurdish groups, including the dismissal of over 11,000 Kurdish teachers and dozens of elected mayors and arrest of the co-chairs of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) for alleged links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). In August 2018, the Turkish Parliament approved a new "anti-terror" law to replace the state of emergency.
Background
In January 2014, during a major corruption inquiry in Turkey, 96 judges and prosecutors, including the chief prosecutor of İzmir, Huseyin Bas, were transferred to new locations, ending the investigations. Bas was transferred to Samsun. Altogether 120 judges and prosecutors were reassigned. At the time, The Daily Telegraph described the events as "the biggest purge of the judiciary in [Turkey's] history". From 2014 to mid-2016, repeated purges of civilian, military and judicial officials took place in Turkey, mainly aimed at followers of Fethullah Gülen, a former colleague of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Sectors affected
During the first post-coup speech Erdoğan could address to the nation upon landing at Atatürk airport, he said, "This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army".
An extensive purge of the Turkish civil service began with Erdoğan warning his opponents that "they will pay a heavy price for this." The New York Times described the purges as a "counter-coup" and expected Erdoğan to "become more vengeful and obsessed with control than ever, exploiting the crisis not just to punish mutinous soldiers but to further quash whatever dissent is left in Turkey".
On 18 July, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Turkish authorities to halt the increasing crackdown on its citizens, indicating that the crackdown was meant to "suppress dissent". French Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault voiced concern, warning against a "political system which turns away from democracy".
The United Nations have been reported as failing to condemn the coup and resulting violence, due to disagreement between Egypt and other Security Council members on the wording of a resolution in that direction.
Military
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım announced on 16 July 2016 that 2,839 soldiers of various ranks had been arrested. Among those arrested were at least 34 generals or admirals. A number of students of the Kuleli Military High School, enough to fill five buses, were also arrested. By 18 July 2016, a total of 103 generals and admirals have been detained by Turkish authorities in connection with the coup.
Yasemin Özata Çetinkaya, the governor of Sinop Province, was removed from her duty and her husband, a colonel in the Turkish army, arrested. Turkish military conducted a raid on the Turkish Air Force Academy in Istanbul as well.
Major General Cahit Bakir, who commanded Turkish forces under NATO in Afghanistan, and Brigadier General Sener Topuc, responsible for education and aid in Afghanistan, have been detained by authorities in Dubai in connection with Turkey's failed coup.
General Bekir Ercan Van, the commander of Incirlik Air Base, which the U.S. uses to carry out airstrikes against ISIL, was arrested by Turkish authorities for his stated role in plotting the failed military coup. He sought asylum from the United States but was denied.
On Feb 15th 2025 Erhan Afyoncu, a high-ranking official of Erdogan government, admitted that many dismissed personnel were not directly linked to the coup attempt. He attributed the dismissals to intelligence reports and a software program named "Fetometre" (which translates as "FETO"-meter) targeting perceived Erdogan critics, suggesting widespread profiling rather than evidence-based removals.
Police and judiciary
On 16 July 2016, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors of Turkey (HSYK) removed 2,745 Turkish judges from duty and ordered their detention. Of these judges, 541 were in administrative judiciary and 2,204 were in criminal judiciary. This amounted to approximately 36% of all judges in Turkey at the time. Two judges from the Constitutional Court of Turkey, Alparslan Altan and Erdal Tercan, were detained by Turkish authorities for stated ties with the Gülen movement, while 5 members of the HSYK had their membership revoked and 10 members of the Turkish Council of State were arrested on charges of being members of the parallel state. Furthermore, arrest warrants were issued for 48 members of the Council of State and 140 members of the Court of Cassation.
By 18 July 2016, the Turkish government had suspended 8,777 government officials across the country for stated links to the coup perpetrators. Among those suspended include 7,899 police officers, 614 gendarmerie officers, 47 district governors and 30 regional governors. As of 19 July 2016, 755 judges and prosecutors had been arrested in relation to the coup attempt.
In January 2019, former chairman of Turkey's Judges and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV), recipient of human rights awards and judge Murat Arslan have been condemned to 10 years in prison for "participation to a terrorist organisation". No violent action or call for violence was reported, the statement being based on an anonymous denunciation and the presence of ByLock on his smartphone, an application he denies having installed on his phone.
Politics
Following the July 2016 attempt coup and first purges of the military, the Turkish government used the state of emergency to introduce amendments into Turkey's municipalities law. Articles 45 and 57 were introduced, which allow to remove an elected mayor from his duty. Before only a final conviction was reason enough to remove a mayor. Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, ex-governor of İstanbul, was dismissed on 19 July 2016. Deputy Mayor of Istanbul's Şişli District, Cemil Candaş (tr), was shot in the head in his office by an unidentified assailant on 18 July 2016. Meanwhile, Turkish parliament was evacuated due to unidentified security concerns.
Elections and HDP harassment
In the 2014 Turkish local elections, the sister party of the HDP, the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) won 97 district municipalities out of 1351 and 2 metropolitan municipalities out of 30. Starting in September 2016, the purges pushed upon the largely Kurdish political formations HDP and BDP. About a third of the HDP members, more than 11,000 people were detained, more than 3000 of them were formally arrested, while also 94 democratically elected mayors have been expelled from their posts. 2014's elected mayors were removed, detained, and subjected to politically motivated prosecutions. Elected mayors were replaced by government's appointees. Municipal councils were not formally dissolved, but were not gathered anymore to hold their democratic and managerial functions.
In October 2018, President Erdogan vowed to seize all municipalities the HDP could win in the 2019 Turkish local elections. By March 2020, out of the 65 municipalities won by social-democrate HDP during the 2019 Turkish local elections, 46 municipalities (69%) had been seized by Turkish government. The dismissal and municipal seizures are believed to be purely politically motivated, using ill-defined accusation of terrorism. Local human right activist comment that "terrorism in Turkey [is] so vague, broad, and ambiguous that anybody critical of the government can easily be criminalized as a terrorist" while dismissals, arrests, prosecutions, and condemnations are based on "trumped-up terrorism charges". Since 2014, over 90 municipalities have been seized. Dismissed mayors, part of the HDP movement who repeatedly stated opposition to PKK-TSK violences, were later arrested on charges of "membership to a terror organization." These removals have been described as a violation of people's democratic vote.
The at the time HDP co-heads Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ were jailed and the prosecution was seeking up to 142 years for Demirtaş and 83 years for Yüksekdaĝ imprisonment. The main charge is the allegation of "managing a terrorist organization [(the HDP)]". As of May 2020, both politicians remain arrested.
Civil service
Following a series of arrests and purges throughout the government, Prime Minister Yıldırım announced on 18 July 2016 that annual leave for all civil servants was suspended, and all those on leave were to return to work. Over three million civil servants were affected. In addition, public sector employees were banned from leaving the country.
By the evening of 19 July 2016, the number of public sector employees suspended had reached 49,321. In the Ministry of Finance, more than 1500 employees were suspended. In the Prime Ministry, 257 employees, including six advisers, were suspended. The Presidency of Religious Affairs suspended 492 employees, among them three provincial muftis. The numbers of suspended personnel in the National Intelligence Organization and Ministry of Family and Social Policy were 100 and 393 respectively.
On 20 July 2016, the Youth and Sports Minister Akif Çağatay Kılıç announced that 245 personnel within his ministry had been laid off. The Energy Ministry reports 300 employees were let go, and the Customs Ministry indicated 184 employees were dismissed.
Education
Immediate purge
By far the greatest purge was in the Ministry of National Education, where 15,200 education ministry officials were suspended. The licenses of 21,000 teachers in the private sector were also cancelled. The Council of Higher Education asked all deans of state and private universities, numbering 1577, to resign. 626 educational institutions, mostly private, were shut down. For example, in Burdur, one school, one cram school and four student hostels were shut down on 20 July. In addition, a travel ban was placed on academics, preventing them from leaving the country.
On 23 July 2016, Turkish authorities shut down 1,043 private schools, 1,229 charities and foundations, 19 trade unions, 15 universities and 35 medical institutions in his first emergency decree under the newly adopted emergency legislation.
Forced cultural changes
Academics have reported pre-2016 coup's changes in academic leadership, and sharp growing pressure after the 2013 Gezi Park protests and 2016 coup. Dean and academic management have pressured professors and students to align with conservative values and teachings. Activities, associations and student clubs have been closed under similar pressure. Conservative students are empowered to denounce non-conservative activities. Academic grants and tenures are reported to be filtered according to political affiliations and connections. Teachers have reported a forced change in political, academic, and critical culture, with firing and exclusion of traditional academic profiles, with worries about the long-term effect of such change and academic purge on the expertise and tone of both Turkey's researches and governmental statutes, culture and policies. While private university are technically allowed to hire purged academics, many reports private university been scared to hire them, increasing the economic exclusion. Academics have been subjects to travel bans.
Petitioners
About one thousand scholars and human right experts who had earlier petitioned for the end of military operations in South East Turkey, Afrin and Syria have faced systematic punitive consequences via public agencies, including interrogations, judicial prosecutions, firing from jobs, arrests, trials and condemnations for "terrorist propaganda". The signatories have been subject to 2000 routine judicial hearings with usual 15 months suspended jail sentence, with no acquittal reported and about 30 actual imprisonments.
The licenses of 24 radio and television channels and the press cards of 34 journalists reported of being linked to Gülen were revoked. Two people were arrested for praising the coup attempt and insulting the Turkish President Erdoğan on social media. On 25 July, Nazlı Ilıcak was taken into custody.