Turkey's FM: 88 foreign ministry personnel dismissed

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that a total of 88 ministry personnel have been dismissed since the failed July 15 coup.

Speaking to reporters after visiting Special Forces Headquarters in Golbasi in capital Ankara, which was bombed the night of the coup, Cavusoglu said of the dismissed personnel, "These traitors should not [be allowed to] infiltrate state institutions."

"We are taking every step carefully. We formed a commission and are currently working hard on the issue. The dismissal of other people is likely in the coming days," he said.

"There are two ambassadors among those expelled," he added. "We are working on the case of some other envoys as well. We need more information."

Cavusoglu said one official working at Turkey’s Consulate in Kazan, the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, fled to Japan in the wake of the coup attempt.

Two Turkish senior diplomats were dismissed on Tuesday as part of the ongoing investigation of the Gulenist Terror Organization, or FETO, held responsible for the July 15 coup attempt.

Gurcan Balik and Tuncay Babali had held various Foreign Ministry posts including that of ambassador.

More than 44,000 people employed in state institutions have been dismissed so far amid a nationwide probe of the deadly coup attempt.

The Education Ministry announced earlier that over 21,000 civil servants from the ministry had been dismissed, most of them teachers.

The Defense Ministry said 262 military judges and prosecutors had been dismissed, while 529 people at agencies linked to the Transport, Maritime Affairs, and Communications Ministry were also sacked.

Dozens of others have been dismissed from other ministries.

They are all suspected of having links to the failed coup, which martyred 246 people and left thousands of others wounded.