Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz said the new teachers will replace state educators who have been dismissed as well as teachers in private schools with alleged links to Fethullah Gulen, a US -based cleric who has denied Turkish accusations that he directed the coup attempt that killed about 290 people.
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The government believes Fethullah Gulen was its mastermind, a Muslim cleric living in the US and because of this, Ankara also felt Washington had prior knowledge of what was about to unfold.
Halis Hanci, described as cleric Fethullah Gulen’s right-hand man, apparently entered Turkey two days before the abortive coup, Turkish presidential officials stated.
Turkey is disbanding its elite presidential guard unit following an attempted coup that left hundreds dead this month, the prime minister said.
Gulen and his supporters have said the government is using the state of emergency “to solidify his power and persecute his critics”.
Demonstrators held a cross-party “Republic and Democracy” rally in Istanbul’s central Taksim Square in a spirit of unity following the failed coup, in which at least 246 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured.
President Tayyip Erdogan tightened his grip on Turkey on Saturday, ordering the closure of thousands of private schools, charities and other institutions in his first decree since imposing a state of emergency after the failed military coup.
Earlier on Saturday, Turkish authorities also detained a nephew of Gulen in connection to the coup attempt, the Anadolu state news agency reported.
A week after renegade soldiers tried to oust him with guns, tanks and F16s, Erdogan’s government has detained over 12,000 people it suspects are state enemies, including nearly 300 officers of the guard shielding his Ankara palace.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar attend a funeral ceremony for Army officer Seckin Cil in Ankara, Turkey, February 18, 2016. Erdogan has said the state of emergency will counter threats to Turkish democracy.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a TV channel that there was “no need” for the regiment.
But in stark contrast to the broadly celebratory mood in Istanbul, human rights group Amnesty International in London claimed it had “credible evidence” of the beating and torture of post-coup detainees.
It is the first time a relative of Gulen has been reported detained since the failed coup.
President Barack Obama yesterday said the U.S. would take seriously any “evidence” of wrongdoing by the preacher, whose followers have long had a strong presence in Turkey’s police and civil service. Although Turkey has been accepted as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) it was mainly a response from the organization to fight back the Soviet Union during the cold war period, not because there is an actual harmony between Turkish beliefs and views and those of the Western countries.
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According to the authorities, over 12,000 people have been detained – mainly soldiers but also police, judges, teachers and civil servants.
