(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Turkey's government issued new decrees yesterday under a state of emergency, firing 2,756 civil servants, judiciary officials and members of the security forces, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Separately, people arrested in connection with coups will wear a uniform dress to court a grey or brown jumpsuit depending on the type and severity of the alleged crime.
The move was touted several months earlier by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and criticised by the opposition and human rights groups, who continue to slam the ongoing state of emergency, which has been in effect for 17 months since a failed military coup attempt last year.
Erdogan, addressing reporters in Ankara, called the uniform rule 'the most important decision of the new decrees, while referring to the US prison in Cuba.
'In Guantanamo, there is a way of life instituted with a single dress code, Erdogan said, while adding, to contrast, that in Turkey prisoners will not be put in leg cuffs or kept chained inside the courtroom.
Meanwhile, 115 people previously dismissed were rehired with the decrees.
More than 150,000 people have been suspended or fired since the state of emergency was implemented after the failed coup in July 2016.
Some 50,000 people are in jail.
'Why do we need such a long emergency rule? They want to silence all the opponents, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu was quoted as saying in Eskisehir by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
His deputy, Zeynep Altiok, was critical of the uniform rule, saying that rapists would still be allowed to wear suits but journalists accused of having links to coup plotters would be in jumpsuits.
The latest orders also grant the president more powers over defence industry co-ordination and a new procurement company was established.
Also, subcontracted workers in public service will be given rights to full employment, according to the new decrees.
The decree covers as many as 450,000 subcontracted workers who will be subject to exams before being given permanent status, Labour Minister Julide Sarieroglu said yesterday, according to Anadolu.
She added wages could be increased.
The fresh orders shut 17 institutions, including unions and foundations, two local newspapers and a hospital.
The national sugar entity was also shut down.
More than 100,000 public sector staff have applied to a commission to be reinstated to their jobs, Anadolu reported last week, citing an official.
Meanwhile, Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said yesterday that Turkey would employ an additional 110,000 public servants in 2018 including teachers, medical and religious personnel.
Speaking in the southern border town of Kilis, Yildirim said that among the total, the government would hire an extra 36,000 medical personnel and 20,000 teachers.
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