Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses supporters outside of his residence in Istanbul on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters
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https://scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/1992119/turkey-fires-25000-teachers-professors-and-others-huge-purge-coup Europe
Turkey fires 25,000 teachers, professors and others in huge purge of ‘coup plotters’
Government supporters wave Turkish flags and hold a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a rally in Taksim Square, Istanbul, on Tuesday. Photo: AP
Asserting that “all the evidence” points to a US-based Muslim cleric as the mastermind of last week’s failed coup, Turkey’s government on Tuesday fired tens of thousands of teachers, university deans and others accused of ties to the plot and demanded the cleric’s extradition.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the issue in a phone call with US President Barack Obama, and his spokesman said the government was preparing a formal extradition request for the cleric, Fethullah Gulen. But he also suggested that the US government shouldn’t require the facts before extraditing him.
“A person of this kind can easily be extradited on grounds of suspicion,” said the spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin. “And there is very strong suspicion for his involvement, for Gulen’s involvement, in this coup attempt. So this is sufficient ground.”
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. Earnest added that a decision on whether to extradite would be made under a longstanding treaty between the two countries, and wouldn’t be made by Obama.
The extradition demand is likely to strain US-Turkey ties as the Obama administration refers the matter to the Justice Department, which will determine whether the Turkish government has established probable cause that a crime was committed.
Gulen has strongly denied the government’s charges, suggesting that Friday’s attempted coup could have been staged as a pretext for the Erdogan government to seize even more power.
“It is ridiculous, irresponsible and false to suggest I had anything to do with the horrific failed coup,” the cleric said in a statement on Tuesday, accusing Erdogan of going to “any length necessary to solidify his power and persecute his critics.
“I urge the US government to reject any effort to abuse the extradition process to carry out political vendettas,” the statement said.
The latest purges were intended to blunt the influence of Gulen, an Erodgan rival who has been in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s and who the government has long accused of being behind a “parallel terrorist organisation.” They follow earlier aggressive moves by Erdogan’s administration against Gulen loyalists in the government, police and judiciary following corruption probes targeting Erdogan associates and family members in late 2013 — prosecutions the government says were orchestrated by Gulen. 
A woman looks on during a demonstration in support of Turkey's President Erdogan at the Sarachane park in Istanbul on Tuesday. Photo: AFP
The crackdown was escalated Tuesday, as the government announced the firing of nearly 24,000 teachers and Interior Ministry employees and demanded the resignations of another 1,577 university deans as well as hundreds of other government employees.
Tuesday’s dismissals touched every aspect of government life.
Turkish media, in rapid-fire reports, said the Education Ministry had fired 15,200 educators, while the Interior Ministry dismissed 8,777 employees and Turkey’s Board of Higher Education called for the deans’ resignations. In addition, 1,500 finance ministry employees were fired, 257 people working at the prime minister’s office were sacked and 492 staffers at the Directorate of Religious Affairs were dismissed, including clerics, preachers and religious teachers.
Tuesday’s firings come on top of roughly 9,000 people who have been detained by the government, including security personnel, judges, prosecutors, religious figures and others. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency says courts have ordered 85 generals and admirals jailed pending trial over their roles in the coup attempt. Dozens of others were still being questioned.
Asked about the scale of the purges, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner cautioned Turkish authorities not to overreach.
“The types of arrests and roundups that you cite have not gone unnoticed by us,” he said.
Erdogan, meanwhile, repeated the suggestion that the government was considering reinstating the death penalty, a practice abolished in 2004 as part of Turkey’s bid to join the European Union. Several European officials have said such a move would be the end of Turkey’s attempts to join.
Addressing hundreds of supporters outside his Istanbul residence early Tuesday, Erdogan responded to calls for the reintroduction of the death penalty with the simple statement: “You cannot put aside the people’s demands.”
“In a country where our youths are killed with tanks and bombs, if we stay silent, as political people we will be held responsible in the afterlife,” Erdogan said, pointing out that capital punishment exists around the world, including in the United States and China.
The violence surrounding the Friday night coup attempt claimed the lives of 210 government supporters and 24 coup plotters, according to the government.