Speaking from his home in Pennsylvania, Islamic preacher Gulen, a one-time ally of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said he had been against military coups his whole life and has suffered most from those Turkey has experienced in the past.
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Turkey’s Board of Higher Education today requested the resignation of 1,577 college deans (1,176 at public schools and 401 at private institutions), effectively sacking them, according to state-run media.
Erdogan was already on a path toward increasing his powers before the coup, in which about 270 people were killed.
Almost 22,000 education ministry workers, who are mostly teachers, have been fired – and steps are also being taken to revoke the licences of a further 21,000 teaching professionals.
Mr Erdogan vowed that work would now continue “to clean out all those viruses from the armed forces”.
Turkey will follow in the footsteps of France, which also opted out of some of the convention’s aspects during an emergency state implemented in November 2015 after terrorist attacks in Paris killed 130 people.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn on Thursday urged Turkey to respect the rule of law, rights and freedoms after declaring a state of emergency following a failed military coup.
Secretary of State John Kerry has said the USA will consider any extradition request for Gulen from Turkey, but that Washington’s decision to extradite will be based on the strength of the evidence.
This week Erdogan suggested capital punishment could be reinstated if parliament approved such a move.
He has denied any involvement in the abortive coup.
Turkey’s National Security Council is holding an emergency meeting following a coup attempt last week that was derailed by security forces and protesters loyal to the government.
Despite their opposition to the Justice and Development party (AKP)-led government, the PKK and its affiliates portrayed themselves as neutral over the coup attempt, which they have branded as a conflict between two sides of the same “fascist” forces.
A spokesman for the Turkish government said the USA should be able to extradite the cleric “on grounds of suspicion” rather than requiring specific facts about the case against him.
The last executions in Turkey were in the mid-1980s and the death penalty was abolished in 2004.
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Later, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that Turkey had submitted materials related to Gulen and the administration was reviewing whether they amounted to a formal extradition request. The decision about Mr Gulen’s status and the decision to extradite him is not a decision made by the president of the United States: “it is a legal decision, that is made pursuant to a legal process, part of which is codified in a longstanding treaty between the United States and Turkey”.
