Nearly 60,000 people have applied to the State of Emergency Procedures Investigation Commission with regard to complaints regarding wrongful termination or suspension of employment from state institutions. People who have been expelled from public service, internships or the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) may apply to the State of Emergency Procedures Investigation Commission, while local universities, hospitals, union foundations and broadcasting organizations that have been closed by a decree can also apply to the commission.

The final deadline for applications to be accepted by the State of Emergency Procedures Investigation Commission is Sept. 14, and the commission is expected to be active for two years. However, the commission's tenure could be prolonged if necessary.

Headed by Justice Ministry Undersecretary Judge Selahaddin Menteş, the State of Emergency Procedures Investigation Commission will investigate every applicant's affiliations with terrorist groups or relevant suspects. After the application deadline has passed, the commission will start investigating the complaints and the applicants' affiliation with terrorist groups or people, which will be regarded as criteria for further investigation during the probe.

Special security measures are being taken with respect to files that are classified according to complaints in respect to various institutions and organized according to nine, color-coded categories. The police, the Ministry of National Education (MEB) and the Interior Ministry will be blue, red and yellow respectively, while the Ministry of Health, the Prime Ministry, the Justice Ministry and the National Defense Ministry will be turquoise, brown, maroon and green, respectively. For all other

applications a blue file will be used. Furthermore, a grey file will be used for applications from the Higher Education Board (YÖK), the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Council of State.

Only authorized people will be able to see the documents. A special coding system was created for preventing unauthorized people to log in to the system.

On Jan. 23, the State of Emergency Procedures Investigation Commission was established to evaluate and make decisions regarding complaints related to operations made under the state of emergency decree laws with the intention of unblocking administrative objection means. The commission started to receive complaints in July and has seven members, three of whom were appointed by the prime minister, one by the Justice Ministry, one by the Interior Ministry and two by the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).

The commission can demand any information and documents from public institutions and judicial authorities except for documents subject to confidentiality as part of an ongoing investigation or otherwise classified state secrets. Public institutions and judicial authorities are obliged to immediately provide the requested information to the commission and facilitate any inquiries.