UPDATE - European court rejects 25,000 Turkish coup bid cases

UPDATES WITH REFERENCE TO STATE OF EMERGENCY COMMISSION

By Sibel Ugurlu

ANKARA (AA) - The European Court of Human Rights has rejected around 25,000 applications from Turkish nationals related to last year’s attempted coup, according to a Turkish judicial official.

The court declined to hear the cases on the grounds that the applicants had failed to exhaust judicial procedures in Turkey, a Justice Ministry official said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

Thousands of people have been arrested or dismissed from their jobs over suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) since the July 15 coup attempt.

Under Turkey’s state of emergency laws, which have been in place since shortly after the attempted coup, those dismissed from their jobs are entitled to have their cases reviewed by a commission.

The court referred to this procedure in its rejection of cases, the official added.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the attempted coup, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Turkey 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.