Turkey sacks 820 more military men
Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency says more than 800 further personnel have been discharged from the military in the latest crackdown following July's abortive coup.
It reported Thursday that the Ministry of National Defense has dishonorably discharged 820 personnel from the Army and Navy. Of those, 648 were already under arrest.
The government has launched a massive crackdown against the movement led by US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. Ankara alleges Gulen and his followers were responsible for the violent coup attempt that left more than 270 people dead. Gulen denies any involvement.
Some 35,000 people have been detained for questioning, with more than 17,000 of them being formally arrested to face trial. Tens of thousands more people have been suspended or dismissed from their jobs, including thousands from the military.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim yesterday insisted his country would not relax its contested anti-terror laws, a key condition laid down by the European Union for giving Turks visa-free access to the bloc.
Yildirim pointed to the series of terror attacks that have rocked Turkey in the past year in telling visiting EU Parliament chief Martin Schulz the government would maintain its hardline stance.
The EU in March reached a deal with Turkey to halt the mass flow of migrants across the Mediterranean in return for a set of incentives, including billions of euros in aid for refugees on Turkish soil and visa-free travel for Turkish citizens.
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