Dismissals come hours after first phone call between presidents Trump and Erdoğan hints at closer ties between US and Turkey

The Turkish government has dismissed more than 4,400 public employees, including hundreds of academics, in a fresh round of purges that have in the past elicited criticism from the country’s western allies.

The dismissals, which spanned the education ministry, gendarmerie, security services, as well as the ministries of the interior, economy and foreign affairs, came just hours after the first phone conversation between the US president, Donald Trump, and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

After years of estrangement under Barack Obama over the White House’s refusal to forcefully remove Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad from power as well as Washington’s support for Kurdish paramilitaries, Ankara is hoping to rebuild its relationship with the US.

Erdoğan’s office said he had wished Trump success in his presidency and that the two leaders “shared commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms”. Trump also praised Turkey’s contribution to the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

Turkish media reported that the new director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, would travel to Turkey on his first official trip abroad as a result of the phone call, hinting at the closer relations Ankara and Washington are likely to enjoy after Obama’s departure.

Though the official statements were scant on details, Erdoğan is likely to have raised the contentious issue of American support for the Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, as well as the creation of safe zones for refugees and greater support from the US-led coalition in the Turkish campaign in al-Bab.

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have cleared Isis from a stretch of territory spanning much of northern Syria west of the Euphrates, and have surrounded the city of al-Bab, the last major Isis stronghold in the province of Aleppo.

On Wednesday Syrian rebel forces supported by Turkish armed forces seized control of strategically important hills around al-Bab after operations overnight, Turkey’s military said.



It said 58 Isis militants were killed in airstrikes, artillery fire and clashes as part of those operations.

The Turkish government has also demanded the extradition of Fethullah Gülen, a reclusive preacher living in Pennsylvania whose movement is widely believed in Turkey to have orchestrated a coup attempt last July that killed more than 200 people.

Turkey’s two-pronged crackdown since the failed coup has targeted alleged Gülenists and sympathisers in the judiciary, police, academia, media and civil service, as well as people accused of fomenting propaganda on behalf of the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), a separatist group fighting an insurgency against the state.

But critics say the purges have turned into a witchhunt targeting the political opposition. Several opposition lawmakers including the two heads of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic party (HDP) have been arrested on terror propaganda charges. Some of those dismissed from universities are leftists who have little to do with the Gülen movement.

One of those dismissed in the last round of purges announced on Monday was İbrahim Kaboğlu, a prominent constitution professor who opposed the recently announced changes to the constitution.

As a result, in recent months Turkey has drifted away from its traditional allies in Nato, rebuilding bridges with Russia after months of estrangement last summer after the downing of a Russian jet in Turkish airspace.



In addition to lukewarm support offered by Europe and the US in the aftermath of the coup attempt, Ankara has faced criticism over the ruling party’s efforts to push through constitutional amendments in a spring referendum that would grant Erdoğan broader powers.

Policy disagreements on Syria have compounded the tensions, with Turkey repeatedly threatening to scrap an agreement that has curbed the influx of refugees into Europe and to hold a referendum on ending accession negotiations to the European Union.</s>ANKARA: Turkey dismissed 4,464 public servants, more than half from the Education Ministry, in a decree published on Tuesday, extending a purge of state

officials following a failed coup in July.

Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 125,000 officials since the coup attempt, and formally arrested some 40,000 people from the military, police and other sectors.

Turkey dismisses more than 4,000 public servants in new decree was posted in World of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on February 08, 2017 and was last updated on February 08, 2017. This news story is related to Latest/184762-Turkey-dismisses-more-than-4000-public-servants-in-new-decree/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "Turkey dismisses more than 4,000 public servants in new decree " is https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/184762-Turkey-dismisses-more-than-4000-public-servants-in-new-decree.</s>Turkey dismisses more than 4,000 public servants in new decree - official gazette

ANKARA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Turkey dismissed 4,464 public servants, more than half from the Education Ministry, in a decree published on Tuesday, extending a purge of state officials following a failed coup in July.

Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 125,000 officials since the coup attempt, and formally arrested some 40,000 people from the military, police and other sectors.</s>Turkey dismissed 4,464 public servants, more than half from the Education Ministry, in a decree published on Tuesday, extending a purge of state officials following a failed coup in July.

Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 125,000 officials since the coup attempt, and formally arrested some 40,000 people from the military, police and other sectors.</s>Alwaght- Turkey has sacked more than 4,400 civil servants, as the post-coup purge continues since July 2016.

Court clerks, teachers, police officers and academics, computer experts were among 4,464 dismissed over alleged links to failed mid- July coup which Turkey blames on US-based opposition leader Fethullah Gulen.

The decree showed late on Tuesday, in the latest purge since the military coup which climed lives of over 240 people.

The dismissals drew criticism, with main opposition CHP lawmaker Sezgin Tanrikulu saying Turkey's long-established universities were being destroyed.

Turkey has already removed or suspended more than 125,000 people and formally arrested 40,000 since the attempted coup during which rogue soldiers tried to overthrow the government and Erdogan.

The government says the action is justified by the nature of the threat to the state.

The crackdown has covered a wide range of professions from civil servants and soldiers to medics. Dismissals are announced in the Official Gazette with no reasons given beyond "membership of, or links to, terrorist organizations or groups deemed to be acting against national security interests".

Rights groups and some European countries have said Erdogan is using the current state of emergency to quash dissent. Ankara says the measures are necessary to root out supporters of the putsch and other terrorists.</s>People walk in the streets near Taksim Square in Istanbul after an attempted coup in Turkey, July 16, 2016. — Reuters picISTANBUL, Feb 8 — The Turkish authorities have ordered the dismissal of nearly 4,500 civil servants in the latest wave of a purge after last July's attempted coup, according to a decree published on Thursday.

The Official Gazette said 4,464 people had been fired, including 2,585 employees of the education ministry, 893 members of the gendarmerie and 88 workers at the public television channel TRT.

The sackings included 330 academics who were members of the Higher Council for Teaching (YOK), including a leading specialist on constitutional law, Ibrahim Kaboglu.

The authorities had already arrested more than 41,000 people, and fired or suspended 100,000, after the July 15 attempted coup. Many are teachers, police, magistrates or journalists.

On January 7, the government announced the dismissal of nearly 8,400 civil servants and the closure of 80 associations, including sports clubs.

The dismissals are authorised by the cabinet and require no parliamentary approval under the state of emergency, which has twice been extended and is now due to last until April 19.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames the attempt to overturn him on a US-based Muslim preacher, Fethullah Gulen, who, he says, is being secretly supported by followers in Turkey.

The scale of the crackdown has been fiercely criticised by the European Union and human rights activists.

The failed putsch that left 248 people dead, not including the plotters, and thousands more wounded. — AFP</s>By HELEN TARAWA

 PROVINCIAL administrators are appointed by the National Executive Council upon recommendations by provincial executive councils in consultation with the Department of Personnel Management (DPM), Secretary John Kali says.

 Kali clarified this when responding to public servants in New Ireland who questioned the appointment of acting provincial administrator Lamiller Pawut.

 He said acting positions were recommended through the department secretary.

 Public servants in New Ireland on Friday petitioned Governor Sir Julius Chan to remove the provincial administrator and some senior managers.

 The public servants through the representative in the Public Employees Association wanted the top management of the provincial administration removed claiming they were illegally holding office.

 Kali said there was a process for the appointment of the administrator which was done always in consultation with the Department of Personnel Management.

 “The department secretary submits five names to the Provincial Executive Council who then recommend only one name which is the final candidate for the position,” he said.

 “I will check on the appointment of Pawut to confirm the process that was followed.

 Sir Julius said the whole thing was illegal and the public servants acted prematurely.

 He said the public servants had violated the Public Services Management Act.

 Sir Julius directed the provincial administrator to charge the public servants involved.</s>Turkey has dismissed more than 4,400 civil servants including teachers, police officers and academics over their suspected links with terrorist organisations, a decree showed late on Tuesday, in the latest purge since a failed coup last July. Ibrahim Kaboglu, a prominent constitution professor who has expressed opposition to planned constitutional changes giving President Tayyip Erdogan greater executive powers, was among those ousted under the decree published in the Official Gazette.

Court clerks, computer experts and librarians were also among 4,464 sacked, part of a crackdown since the July coup bid which Turkey says was carried out by U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen denies the allegation. The dismissals drew criticism on social media, with main opposition CHP lawmaker Sezgin Tanrikulu saying on Twitter that Turkey’s long-established universities were being destroyed.

Turkey has already removed or suspended more than 125,000 people and formally arrested 40,000 since the attempted coup during which rogue soldiers tried to overthrow the government and Erdogan, killing more than 240 people, most of them civilians. The government says the action is justified by the nature of the threat to the state.

The crackdown has covered a wide range of professions from civil servants and soldiers to medics. Dismissals are announced in the Official Gazette with no reasons given beyond “membership of, or links to, terrorist organisations or groups deemed to be acting against national security interests”.

Rights groups and some European countries have said Erdogan is using the current state of emergency to quash dissent. Ankara says the measures are necessary to root out supporters of the putsch and other terrorists. Among the 330 academics dismissed were those who signed a petition last year criticising military action in the restive southeast against Kurdish militants. Erdogan had said the academics would pay a price for their “treachery”.

Hundreds of civilians, members of the security forces and militants have been killed since the conflict with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) reignited in July 2015 in the worst violence Turkey has seen for 20 years. The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.</s>While many federal public servants are facing problems getting their paycheques, thousands more have reportedly had the opposite problem: getting paid too much.

According to a report by CBC, roughly 26,000 public servants were overpaid by almost $70 million, and the government has only recovered about a third of that money. A report in the Ottawa Citizen in December came to a similar conclusion: that more than 20,000 public servants were overpaid by about $56 million as of October.

Public Services and Procurement Minister Judy Foote wouldn’t tell reporters Tuesday why the government didn’t seem to know how much had been overpaid. “We will know how much money has been overpaid when we get to dealing with those cases,” she said.

The problems stem from the government’s new pay administration system, called Phoenix, which has seen thousands of public servants paid incorrectly – too little, or in some cases, too much – since it was implemented in February 2016. The government identified a backlog of about 82,000 cases in July 2016.

Marie Lemay, deputy minister at Public Services and Government Procurement Canada, said there were still 7,000 backlogged cases as of Jan. 25. Another update is expected Wednesday.

READ MORE: Phoenix pay troubles – how did we get here?

It’s a problem that’s attracted the attention of the federal auditor general. In November, the Auditor General of Canada said that his office has begun the “planning phase” of a performance audit of the government pay system.

“We cannot provide further information on the scope of work while the audit is ongoing,” said spokesperson Celine Bissonnette on Tuesday.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, one of the major public service unions, said that overpayment can be a hardship for some public servants.

“People were reporting that [they were being overpaid] for months and months, and then finally sometime in November the government starts to panic and starts clawing back 100 per cent of their paychque or three paycheques right before Christmas,” said PIPSC president Debi Daviau. “That was an absolute fiasco.”

Many public servants can’t even tell if they’re being overpaid or by how much, she said. And she believes this will lead to problems at tax time.

READ MORE: Phoenix employees to face a new hurdle: tax season

That’s one of the big worries for many public servants – that extra money in their bank account means paying extra taxes – an issue that Foote says her department is working to resolve with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Foote said that employees who have been overpaid should tell the government, and their cases will be processed once those employees who have been underpaid are resolved.

“I encourage those employees who are getting more money than they’re entitled to, to maybe put it in a separate bank account. When it comes down to recovering that money, we will do it and we will do it in a way that’s respectful of those employees, so, if they want to pay back in a lump sum, by all means, and if they want us to put in a payment plan, we’ll do that too.”

At a stop on his cross-country tour in early January, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the Phoenix pay system problems “unacceptable” and pledged to solve them – a sentiment echoed by Foote.

But Daviau is not optimistic. “We see no resolution in sight and we’re already a year in.”
The Turkish government dismisses more than 4,400 public servants from their jobs in the latest purge within the country following a failed coup attempt last year.