Turkey's top judicial board HSYK dismissed 66 more Gülen-linked judges and prosecutors on Wednesday as the Turkish Armed Forces suspended 540 military personnel as part of the ongoing July 15 coup investigation.
With the latest dismissals, the total number of sacked judges and prosecutors have reached 3,456.
The 540 soldiers were from the naval and air forces command and are accused of having suspected links with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen and his Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the defence ministry said.
On July 15, a small military junta linked to FETÖ attempted to stage a coup to topple the democratically elected president and government in Turkey and impose martial law. The attempt was prevented by military troops loyal to the government, along with police units and millions of Turkish citizens in favor of democracy. In total, 241 people consisting of mostly civilians were killed by pro-coup soldiers, while over 2,200 people were injured.
The attempt was masterminded by Fetullah Gülen, who has lived in self-imposed exile on a 400-acre property in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania since 1999.
Gülen and his followers are charged with attempting to infiltrate Turkey's state institutions, especially the military, police apparatus and judiciary, with the ultimate aim of creating a parallel state.
Turkey has requested the extradition of Gülen from the U.S. to stand trial for a series of crimes.
