A former district governor who was forced to work in construction after being fired under an emergency decree in the aftermath of a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey died on Thursday in an occupational accident.
Musa Üçgül died after falling from the seventh floor of a construction scaffold at the building where he had started working a few days before the accident. His death was announced on social media by a former colleague, Engin Avcı, who said he was overwhelmed with grief upon hearing the news.
“I hope the Turkish authorities that are responsible for summarily dismissing public servants are aware that their actions have stripped individuals of their jobs and dignity, leading to tragic consequences — including deaths and orphaned children. While our deceased friends are remembered for their goodness, those responsible for these dismissals should ask themselves: How will they be remembered after their own deaths?” Avcı said.
This is the latest incident in a series of work-related accidents that have resulted in the death of former civil servants who were forced into other jobs after being summarily dismissed from public service.
Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government declared a state of emergency (OHAL) following the abortive putsch on July 15, 2016 that remained in effect until July 19, 2018. During the state of emergency the AKP carried out a purge of state institutions under the pretext of an anti-coup fight by issuing a number of government decrees, known as KHKs, firing over 130,000 civil servants from their jobs due to their real or alleged connections to “terrorist organizations.”
Turkey’s former public servants were not only fired from their jobs; they were also prohibited from working again in the public sector and getting a passport. 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.
Therefore, many purge victims have had to work in uninsured jobs with very little workplace safety. There have also been cases where former public servants have died due to occupational accidents in physically demanding jobs.
Former public servants, such as judges and military officers, have taken to social media to reveal they were working in neighborhood street markets and at construction sites.
