As Erdogan prepares for a new term, Turkey returns more than 18,000 civil servants



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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gains considerably increased powers that opponents dread to impose on one man. (ISTANBUL) – The Turkish government on Sunday issued a decree returning more than 18,000 state employees a day before President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began a new five-year term reinforced by

The latest dismissals have significantly expanded the government purge of state institutions that began after a coup d'etat that failed two years ago. Before Sunday, at least 130,000 people had been fired on the basis of what authorities said were links with terrorist groups. Human rights groups say the purge has also targeted political opponents and government critics and has also taken innocent people.

Nine thousand police officers and hundreds of soldiers and academics were fired Sunday. in the State Gazette. Three newspapers and a television channel were closed, and another 148 people previously dismissed were reinstated.

The purge was carried out under a state of emergency of two years which granted the government extraordinary powers and came to define Turkey. Anxious, divided and often violent era following the failed coup d'etat.

Erdogan is expected to lift the state of emergency as he begins his new term, due to a persistent demand from the opposition. But it will also gain significant powers as Turkey moves from a parliamentary system to an "executive presidency" – a system that the president's critics see as guaranteeing a single government.

Erdogan was re-elected last month despite an exceptionally unified challenge. fractured opposition. He will also get a majority in parliament because of an alliance between his ruling Justice and Development party and another nationalist political party.

Changes to the Turkish constitution, approved by voters in a referendum last year, eliminated the post of prime minister. expanded the parliament and gave the president the power to choose the cabinet, control the budget and unilaterally issue decrees.

In supporting the changes, Erdogan's supporters invoked Turkish history of stormy politics, current security threats and the need to rationalize

"We will accelerate the work of the government. State and make it effective by merging institutions that do similar work and eliminating institutions that have become dysfunctional, "Erdogan said Saturday. produces something else: "a president with a high concentration of powers, without any control or effective balance," said Ergun Ozbudun, an expert in Turkish constitutional law.

The most significant change, he said, was in the judiciary, because of changes in the way members of a superior council of the judiciary were appointed. The chairperson could, directly or indirectly, appoint six of the 13 board members. The other seven would be appointed by a parliament supposed to vote in favor of Erdogan

"If you control this body, it means you control the entire judicial system," said Ozbudun. "The 13 members are people the government trusts, we can not talk about an impartial judiciary," he said.

Although the president's ability to issue decrees is a "significant power," Ozbudun said that

The lifting of the emergency rule, if done, would be a positive step, a- he said, but did not answer questions about policies that Erdogan would pursue by accumulating more power.

"Will they be more conciliatory? or more or less continue the same approach. That remains to be seen, "said Ozbudun

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