Hospitals, football referees caught up in Turkish coup crackdown

The response to the failed coup in Turkey two and a half weeks ago has been swift, ruthless and wide-ranging.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was forced to address reporters via FaceTime as his country underwent a night of chaos on July 15, ordered mass arrests and detentions in the following hours and days.

Over 15,000 have been detained, 10,000 of which were military personnel, and more than 8,000 have been arrested since that night. Beyond that, though, journalists, doctors and airline employees have been affected in a sweeping crackdown that's been criticized by human rights groups.

And on Tuesday, a number of football referees were even sacked as part of the move.

Turkish officials believe the coup was instigated by U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally living in Pennsylvania, and they are demanding his extradition. In the meantime, authorities are doing everything they can to get to the bottom of the botched uprising.

Almost 70,000 people have been suspended from their jobs on suspicion of being involved in the Gulen movement, which runs schools, charities and businesses internationally, the Associated Press reports.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim admitted Tuesday that the crackdown may have been overzealous. "There must definitely be some among them who were subjected to unfair procedures," he said. But Erdogan insisted that a systematic purging of the military, civil service and other sectors were necessary to rout out those responsible for the coup.

"If we show pity to these murderers, to these coup plotters, we will end up in a pitiful state," he said, while insisting that "the West is supporting terrorism and taking sides with coups."

Human rights groups have condemned the crackdown. Amnesty International has called the move a "country-wide witch hunt" and added that "cracking down on dissent and threatening to bring back the death penalty are not justice."

Some Turkish people, such as the wife of a prominent human rights lawyer who was detained, have said that the government is using the coup to their advantage. “The president is using this coup to go after anyone," Sibel Hurtas told reporters after her husband Orhan Kemal Cengiz was made to face prosecutors. "Detentions like that of my husband are creating an empire of fear.”

Demonstrators took to the streets to condemn the coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Credit: OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images

Here's a rundown of some of the organizations and institutions outside the military that have been caught up in the far-reaching crackdown:

Football (soccer) referees

The Turkish Football federation said Tuesday it had sacked 94 people, the Associated Press reports, including a number of referees. The move was a "necessity" it said, but it didn't specify whether those dismissed were suspected of links to the Gulen movement.

Airline employees

Over 100 employees at the state run Turkish Airlines were sacked following the coup, including management and cabin crew.

Telecommunications workers

Turk Telekon, which provides landline service in the country and is 30 percent owned by the state, also sacked 198 people in "cooperation with the security forces."

Journalists

Staff at the Zaman newspaper, which was seized by authorities and began publishing pro-government stories in March, have been hit by the crackdown. There are 47 arrest warrants out for journalists, managers and former staff at the daily, which an official from Erdogan's office calls "the Gulen Movement's flagship media organization."

At this point, the prosecutors aren't bothered about what columnists wrote or said, the official added. "The reasoning is that prominent employees of Zaman are likely to have intimate knowledge of the Gulen network and as such could benefit the investigation."

The new warrants raise the total to 89 while some 24 licenses for TV and radio companies have reportedly been revoked. Newspapers, magazines, publishing houses and distribution companies have been affected in what two press freedom bodies have called "a major blow against public debate and government accountability."

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Military doctors

Authorities issued 98 new detention warrants, including for military doctors, a senior government official told the Associated Press.

Educators

The first decree signed by Erdogan after he declared a state of emergency called for the closure of 1,043 private schools, 1,229 charities and foundations and 15 universities. Nearly 1,600 university deans have also been asked to resign.

Hospital workers and patients

Some health care institutions didn't survive the crackdown, either, with patients reportedly transferred to state-run hospitals. In fact, some that are even based overseas have been affected.

Deva Hospital in Somalia, for example, was told to shut down because it was built and run by an aid organization linked to Gulen, the Financial Times reports.

A whole host of other professions have been affected, including 110 workers in culture and tourism, bankers and workers at the Ministries of Energy and Natural Resources and Youth and Sports.