Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank announced on Monday that a total of 1,289 people have been fired from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) due to their alleged links to the Gülen movement.
Responding to questions from members of Parliament, Varank said the dismissal of these individuals took place between Dec. 17, 2013 and Oct. 31, 2018.
Dec.17, 2013 refers to the eruption of a corruption scandal in Turkey in which senior government members were implicated.
Both for the corruption investigation and a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the Turkish government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blames the Gülen movement, while the movement strongly denies any involvement in either.
The Turkish government launched a witch-hunt targeting the group following the abortive putsch.
Since then, some 140,000 public servants have been dismissed by government decrees and more than 600,000 people investigated on terrorism charges.
The European Commission said in a report on April 17 that since the introduction of a now-ended state of emergency on July 20, 2016, over 150,000 people were taken into custody and 78,000 were arrested.
