The seven Swiss-Turkish dual nationals currently being held in Turkey will be freed on July 18, Turkish ambassador to Switzerland Ilhan Saygili announced on Friday.
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This comes as a state of emergency imposed after an attempted coup two years ago is due to be lifted. The coup attempt on the night of July 15-16, 2016 has been attributed to Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish preacher now living in the United States.
Ambassador Saygili told a press conference in the Swiss capital Bern that the passports of the dual nationals had been cancelled as part of administrative measures following the failed coup. He did not confirm any direct links between them and the exiled preacher, saying only that the invalidation of passports during that period was because of “question marks” about such links.
In the wake of the failed coup, Turkish authorities launched an unprecedented crackdown on suspected Gülen supporters, but also against pro-Kurd opposition members and critical journalists. Some 77,000 people were jailed and more than 150,000 sacked or suspended from their jobs.
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