As many as 739 police officers have been reinstated after investigations found that they shared no links with the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).The officers had been suspended from duty for their suspected ties to the terrorist group responsible for last year's failed coup attempt.
Thousands of people from law enforcement, the judiciary, the bureaucracy and military were suspended from duty, detained and arrested following the foiled putsch bid that left 250 people, mainly civilians, dead on July 15, 2016. Decrees in the context of the state of emergency declared after the coup bid facilitated dismissals that were previously preceded by lengthy inquiries. Fearing a second coup attempt, authorities temporarily dismissed armed personnel suspected of FETÖ links in the immediate aftermath of the bid by FETÖ infiltrators in the army.
Officials recently announced that an independent committee was set up to look into complaints regarding what some officers called "unfair" dismissals. The commission is entitled to demand any information and documents from public institutions and judicial authorities except documents subject to confidentiality as part of an investigation or others classified as state secrets. Public institutions and judicial authorities are obliged to immediately provide the requested information to the commission within the scope of its duties and to facilitate any inquiries.