WikiLeaks was banned hours after leaking thousands of emails from Mr Erdogan’s ruling party, many of which were sent in the run-up to the coup attempt.
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The state-run Anadolu news agency reported the teachers are believed to have ties to USA -based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the government has accused of being behind the failed military coup last week.
He has called for Gulen to be extradited to Turkey, but US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that Turkey must provide hard evidence the cleric was behind the coup attempt for any extradition to take place. He has accused Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish scholar living in exile in Pennsylvania, of organizing the military attack last week.
On Wednesday, Turkey banned its academics from travelling overseas.
Earlier, Turkish state media reported authorities are acting to close down 626 private schools and other educational establishments, in the latest step of a crackdown after last week’s attempted coup.
Erdogan was speaking after holding meetings of Turkey’s national security council and the cabinet in the capital. Erdogan has previously said an “important decision” would be announced after the meeting.
Turkish special forces policemen carry the coffin an officer who was killed last Friday during the failed military coup, during his funeral procession in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
Erdogan, asked if other countries could have been involved in the coup, told Al-Jazeera: “There could be”.
After issuing a temporary ban on global travel for professional scholars, the government reportedly suspended four university rectors, who manage their schools.
The education ministry said it chose to close 626 private schools and other establishments that are under investigation for “crimes against the constitutional order and the running of that order”, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The Board of Higher Education issued the directive on Wednesday. It states that there will be no new assignments until further notice and that academics now overseas on assignment will be recalled unless they are obligated to remain there. Numerous people arrested face charges of “attempting to overthrow the government of the Turkish Republic using force and violence or attempting to completely or partially hinder its function”, the Hurriyet Daily News reported. The Ministry of Education also fired 15,200 teachers on Tuesday for the same reason.
Materials related to the extradition of the cleric, who lives in self-imposed exile in the US state of Pennsylvania, have been submitted to USA authorities.
The firings came in addition to the detentions of about 9,000 people Ankara suspects of involvement in the attempted overthrow of Erdogan’s government.
In addition to more than 2,700 judges fired within a day after Erdogan returned to Turkey, 262 military judges have been suspended, according to private broadcaster NTV.
A statement from the Turkish embassy in Ottawa said its government has “solid proof” that Gulen’s organization staged the coup. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday urged that those accused after the coup attempt be able to defend themselves in a “robust and legitimate process”. Erdogan also said the government’s sweep was ongoing, and that foreign countries could have had a hand in the incident. At least 24 coup plotters were also killed.
He also told Al Jazeera it would be a “big mistake” if the USA failed to extradite Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and is accused of masterminding the plot.
His spokesman Alp Aslandogan said that neither Gulen nor his lawyers have been contacted by US authorities regarding the extradition request.
Coup plotters New details continued to emerge about the events of Friday night, when tanks appeared on the streets of Istanbul and the coup attempt began to unfold.
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Turkey has sent files to the US on Gulen, who has lived in the United States since 1999.
