Turkish special forces policemen walk in front of their damaged base, which was attacked by the Turkish warplanes during the failed military coup last Friday, in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 19, 2016.
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The president said the aim of the crackdown is to “cleanse all state institutions” of those suspected of involvement with the coup or with what he calls “the parallel state” – a reference to the movement run by Mr Erdogan’s former ally and current nemesis Fethullah Gülen.
On Wednesday, academics were barred from traveling overseas for work in an effort to prevent scholars and university teachers accused of participation in the coup plot from fleeing the country, Turkish officials said…
In Greece, a court sentenced eight Turkish military personnel who fled there aboard a helicopter during the coup attempt to two months in prison for entering the country illegally.
On Tuesday, the government suspended 15 200 state education employees and demanded the resignation of nearly 1 600 deans from private and state universities over alleged links to Gulen.
The move follows last week’s failed coup and comes amid a wide-ranging purge of state employees. “No one should turn this into an opportunity because we will resist him the same way we fought the coup plotters”.
Erdogan’s government said it has fired almost 22,000 education ministry workers, mostly teachers, taken steps to revoke the licenses of 21,000 other teachers at private schools and sacked or detained half a dozen university presidents in a campaign to root out alleged supporters of a US -based Muslim cleric blamed for the failed insurrection.
Erdogan also said he would approve a parliamentary measure to reinstate the death penalty even if it would jeopardize Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.
“Universities have always been crucial for military juntas in Turkey and certain individuals are believed to be in contact with cells within the military”, Reuters report an official as saying.
The coup represented the most serious threat to Erdogan’s 13 year domination of Turkey, and the president has said he came within 15 minutes of being killed or kidnapped by the plotters before escaping.
Turkey has accused the group of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the coup. Not only is Erdogan using the crushed coup as an excuse to purge his opponents, but he is edging closer to Russia’s authoritarian president, Vladimir Putin.
Reiterating his intent so soon after the coup attempt underscores his commitment to the project.
The Turkish military has regularly targeted suspected PKK bases in Iraq since previous year.
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Accusations of any involvement have been strenuously denied by Gulen and his associates.
