Turkey's interior ministry announced it has fired 635 security personnel on Thursday, accusing the majority of having links with "terrorist" organisations and claiming they were engaging in activities that posed a threat to Turkish national security.
According to the authorities, 559 of these security personnel who were working as "village guards", maintained links with "terrorist" organisations, while another 76 were involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking and smuggling of various goods.
Following the 2016 military coup attempt, tens of thousands of public sector workers were jailed or imprisoned in Turkey for their alleged relations with various organizations that Ankara describes as "terrorist", particularly the Fethullah Gülen movement.
Gülen's movement was an ally of the ruling party until a split occurred between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the self-exiled Gülen who currently lives in the USA.
