UPDATE - Over 3,900 judges, prosecutors dismissed since 2016

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS OF JUSTICE MINISTER

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Over 3,900 judges and prosecutors have been dismissed since the defeated terrorist coup of 2016, the Turkish justice minister said on Monday.

"The number of judges and prosecutors who have been dismissed since July 15 [2016] is 3,926," Abdulhamit Gul told the members of the parliament's planning and budget committee.

FETO [Fetullah Terrorist Organization] threat did not basically start at the night of July 15, or ended in the morning of July 16, he noted.

Gul said Turkey faces a terror group, which has infiltrated the state institutions "for 40 years".

"We know that it is not correct to say 'we have completed the fight with this terror group in 40 days'," he stressed.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Gul reminded that Turkey has sent the U.S. total of seven extradition requests for FETO leader Gulen.

He added that total of 270 out of 289 cases related to the coup attempt have been concluded since 2016.