Turkey coup: Purge widens to education sector

A religious school in Istanbul - education staff have been purged after the coup, along with the army and the judiciary

More than 15,000 education staff in Turkey have been suspended after last week's failed coup, as a purge of state officials widens still further.

The ministry of education accused them of links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric the Turkish government says was behind Friday's uprising. Mr Gulen denies any involvement.

Soldiers accused of involvement have been appearing in court

More than 1,500 university deans have also been ordered to resign and the licences of 21,000 teachers working at private institutions revoked.

• Cleric Gulen condemns post-coup 'witch-hunt'
• How mobiles beat tanks and saved Erdogan
• Who was behind coup attempt?
• Why did Turkish coup plot fail?

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim vowed to take action against Mr Gulen's supporters. "I'm sorry but this parallel terrorist organisation will no longer be an effective pawn for any country," Mr Yildirim said, according to Reuters news agency.

"We will dig them up by their roots so that no clandestine terrorist organisation will have the nerve to betray our blessed people again." The army, judiciary, security and civil service have all been targeted following Friday's coup attempt:

• 6,000 military personnel have been arrested, with more than two dozen generals awaiting trial
• 9,000 police officers have been sacked
• Almost 3,000 judges have been suspended
• More than 250 staff in Mr Yildirim's office have been removed

Turkey's media regulation body on Tuesday also revoked the licenses of 24 radio and TV channels accused of links to Mr Gulen. The country's Religious Affairs Directorate has banned religious funerals for supporters of the attempted coup, the Anadolu news agency reported.

Meanwhile it has emerged that the army first received intelligence a coup was under way at 16:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Friday, hours before a rogue faction deployed tanks and targeted key infrastructure.

The General Staff said in a statement it alerted the relevant authorities, adding that the majority of members had nothing to do with the coup.

---