Top Turkish judicial board suspends over 600 members

ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) on Wednesday announced it had suspended 648 judges and prosecutors under an investigation about the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which the Turkish government accuses of carrying out the July 15 coup attempt.

The suspended 550 judges and prosecutors were working in the top judicial board's forensic department while 98 others were working in the administrative department.

Speaking at a meeting in Ankara on Wednesday, HSYK ombudsman Mehmet Yilmaz said that as part of an investigation launched over certain members’ alleged links to the FETO terror group, a general assembly will be held on Thursday to decide whether 2,851 suspended judges and prosecutors will be dismissed from their post.

"Such an organization [FETO] can only collapse with confessions," Yilmaz said. "Confessions are important to us, this is what the investigation needs to look into."

"We are extremely thorough; no one is spared," Yilmaz said, adding that a total number of 3,489 judges and prosecutors had been suspended from their duties since an investigation was launched into the failed coup, in which 240 people were martyred and around 2,200 others injured.

"Anyone who is a member of the FETO terror group will be kept out of the judiciary and prosecution occupation," he said.

Turkey's government has repeatedly said the coup attempt was organized by FETO and followers of Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 1999.

Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the "parallel state".

"We didn’t call for mercy but for justice because on July 15 they [FETO members] showed their savage faces," Yilmaz said.

"This is the kind of organization we are dealing with."