Deputy prime minister Nurettin Canikli revealed on Monday that in pursuit of a security breakdown, Turkish authorities have dismissed nearly 28,000 teachers in connection with an alleged link to terrorism. The inquiry follows a failed coup that occurred back in July, and has resulted in around 9,500 other teachers being suspended.
On the whole, Turkey has either sacked or suspended a total of nearly 100,000 civil servants in regard to links with terrorism. The roster of those suspended includes judges, prosecutors, police officers and teachers.
This revolution occurred after a group of rogue soldiers attempted to overthrow the government. Turkey's Ankara blames U.S. based preacher Fethullah Gulen, and the people detained are suspected of links with Gulen.
The preacher, as Assyrian International News Agency reports, has lived in the U.S. as a result of a self-imposed exile since 1999. He has, however, denied the accusations charged against him, as well as any connections with the people detained. In fact, Gulen has gone so far as to condemn the entire coup itself.
Meanwhile in Turkey, human rights groups in the country have voiced their concern, considering that the crackdown has grown to such a large scale. Turkey's allies in the West also fear that President Tayyip Erdogan has set up the coup as a pretext to curtail dissent.
In the most recent cases of suspension, the teachers in the Kurdish regions to the southeast of Turkey have been targeted on charges of connections with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party.
After a cabinet meeting, Canikli stated, "As part of our fight against terrorism, necessary measures have been carried out on teachers along with other civil servants assessed to be linked with terrorist organizations."
He also revealed that 455 teachers who had earlier been dismissed from duty had now been reinstated to their original posts after the inquiries against them were completed.