A spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan said the government was preparing a formal request to the United States for the extradition of Gulen, who Turkey says orchestrated the failed military takeover on Friday in which at least 232 people were killed.
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Turkey in 2002 lifted its last state of emergency, which had been imposed in southeastern provinces for the fight against Kurdish militants in 1987.
The Education Ministry said it was closing 626 private schools and other institutions that are under investigation for “crimes against the constitutional order”, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkey is increasing pressure on the United States to extradite Gulen, who said the accusations that he was behind the failed coup are “ridiculous”. Governors will have expanded powers and the army will be under the command and control of the governors, the President said.
He guaranteed that all the “viruses” in the armed forces would be cleansed. “And we will clean it out”.
According to the local media report, 257 personnel of Turkish Prime Ministry and 245 employees of Youth and Sports Ministry were dismissed on Wednesday over the investigation of the failed coup attempt.
He said Turkey had not “come to the end of it”, and added that authorities were working within the law as they targeted alleged plotters.
ANKARA, TURKEY-Turkey on Wednesday intensified a sweeping crackdown on the media, military, courts and education system following an attempted coup, targeting tens of thousands of teachers and other state employees for dismissal in a purge that raised concerns about basic freedoms and the effectiveness of key institutions.
Teachers, journalists, police and judges alike have been caught in a net authorities are casting wider by the day, in what is increasingly looking like a witch-hunt to suppress dissent.
The U.S. said it was “understandable” and “justified” for the Turkish government to detain more than 6,000 soldiers, 1,481 judiciary members and 210 police officers who are linked to the coup attempt.
Officials have raised the death toll from the violence surrounding the coup attempt to 240 government supporters.
A senior Turkish official said the travel ban on academics is a “temporary measure”.
– 1,577 university deans have been asked to resign.
Two pilots who downed a Russian jet previous year are also among “the detained soldiers who attempted the coup”, said Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag.
Tuesday’s dismissals touched every aspect of government life.
Access was restricted because of a “violation of privacy and publication of illegally obtained data”, a Turkish official told CNN.
There was no immediate statement Wednesday from Turkey’s Telecommunications Board, a government agency that regulates access to websites.
“We thank our European friends for their support against the coup, however their sentences starting with “but” did not please us at all”, he said.
The US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday called on Turkey to present evidence that US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind last week’s failed coup attempt.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest says Turkey had submitted materials related to Gulen and the administration was reviewing whether they amounted to a formal extradition request. The two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies co-operate in the U.S.-led war against Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL) with American military planes flying missions from Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base into neighbouring Iraq and Syria.
Meanwhile, since the coup attempt, 100 million Turkish flags have been sold, leading to a shortage of cloth.
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Gulen, in a statement released Tuesday, said Erdogan “once again demonstrated he will go to any length necessary to solidify his power and persecute his critics”.
