More than 15,000 Turkish education officials, employees sacked

More than 15,000 Turkish education officials, employees sacked
Turkish authorities sacked more than 15,000 people working in state and private institutions, in the latest move to clamp down on coup plotters.
2 min read
19 July, 2016
Among those sacked were education officials and university deans [Getty]

More than 15,000 Turkish state education employees were suspended on Tuesday after a failed coup last week, the education ministry said.

The suspensions were linked to the "Fethullah Terrorist Organisation" (FETO) – a name adopted by the ministry to reference a network of followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

"15,200 state employees have been suspended and an investigation has been launched into them," it said in a statement.

"There is an investigation into those linked to FETO," the ministry said, but did not give further details on what kind of employees were suspended.

Meanwhile, 1,577 deans at both state and private universities across the country were ordered to resign by the higher education board, state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Tuesday.

More than 9,000 people, including police and government officials have been dropped from their positions since the attempted-coup was squashed last Friday.

Another 7,500 people have been detained including top generals accused of masterminding the plot.

Erdogan blamed his rival Gulen for the coup however the cleric has adamantly denied any role, and condemned the coup attempt "in the strongest terms."

Gulen, 75, was a former close ally of the current leader but the powerful presence and influence of his Hizmet movement among Turkish society - reports suggest 10% of Turkey's population support the movement - led to a power struggle between the two politicians.