“We will dig them up by their roots so that no clandestine terrorist organisation will have the nerve to betray our blessed people again”.
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A majority of the institutions are private educational establishments, the official added.
And the authorities acted swiftly – cancelling licences for radio and television stations said to be linked to the so-called Gulenists.
The education ministry said the schools were under investigation for “crimes against the constitutional order and the running of that order”, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkey’s state-run media says two Turkish military officers detained for alleged involvement in the thwarted coup have fled from a military hospital in Istanbul where they were being treated.
About 9,300 people have also been detained, including top generals accused of treason for allegedly masterminding the plot as well as soldiers, police and judges.
His comments came as Dutch, German, and Canadian foreign ministers expressed concern in Washington on July 20 about the scale of the crackdown by Turkish authorities after the coup attempt and called on Turkey to respect the rule of law.
On Russia, Erdogan suggested that the two pilots who shot down a Russian jet on the Syrian-Turkish border in November may have been under orders from the coup plotters.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Tuesday voiced “serious alarm” at the mass suspension of judges and prosecutors and urged Turkey to allow independent monitors to visit those who have been detained.
The coup has led to public anger and calls for the government to reinstate the death penalty, a demand that Erdogan has said he will consider.
“But it is also a sign that it was already preparing purges of this kind and seized the opportunity”.
Erdogan told CNN in his first media interview since the coup that he would approve any decision taken by parliament to reimpose the death penalty on Turkey’s books.
“The goal of the state of emergency is to most effectively and swiftly take steps necessary to eliminate the threat to democracy in our country, the rule of law and the rights and freedom of our citizens”, he said.
The Turkish government Tuesday escalated its wide-ranging crackdown against people it claims have ties to the alleged coup plotters, firing almost 24,000 teachers and Interior Ministry employees across the country and demanding the resignations of another 1,577 university deans. “We will, one by one, cleanse the state of (Gulen’s followers) and eliminate those who are trying to harm the country”.
Those who are responsible will be handed over to justice and justice will be done through the courts.
Turkey scrapped the death penalty in 2004 as part of its push to join the European Union, and European leaders have warned Ankara against restoring it.
Erdogan has remained in Istanbul since he flew back on Saturday from the holiday resort of Marmaris where he was staying when the coup struck.
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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.
