A former police officer who attempted suicide six years ago after being fired under an emergency decree in the aftermath of a 2016 coup attempt died on Thursday following a prolonged battle for survival, the TR724 news website reported on Saturday.
Erdal Mehmet Uzun, 54, who shot himself in the aftermath of his dismissal, had been receiving medical treatment. He was most recently in intensive care at a hospital in the northern province of Trabzon.
Uzun, a father of four, was reportedly struggling with depression after being fired.
His funeral, held in the village of Tonya Çayıriçi in Trabzon, was attended by local officials, including the district head of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), city council members and the mayor. AKP members expressed condolences on social media, referring to Uzun as a “retired” police officer while omitting any mention of his summary dismissal from the police force.
Following the failed coup in 2016, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency and carried out a massive purge of state institutions under the pretext of an anti-coup fight.
Over 130,000 public servants, including 4,156 judges and prosecutors, as well as more than 24,000 members of the armed forces were summarily removed from their jobs for alleged membership in or relationships with “terrorist organizations” by emergency decree-laws subject to neither judicial nor parliamentary scrutiny.
Former public servants were not only fired from their jobs but also banned from working again in the public sector and getting a passport to seek employment abroad. The government also made it difficult for them to work formally in the private sector. Notes were put on the social security database about dismissed public servants to deter potential employers.
In recent years, some people have been reinstated; yet this process has often come too late. Numerous cases have surfaced where dismissed individuals, facing severe emotional and financial strain, have died by suicide or otherwise passed away before their reinstatement.
