Turkey suspends 15,000 state education employees in post-coup crackdown

Turkish state media reported Tuesday that 15,000 state education employees have been suspended amid a government crackdown following the weekend's failed coup. The attempt by certain factions of the military to overthrow Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which left at least 232 dead, has also led to the ousting of 492 employees from the Religious Affairs Directorate, 257 employees from the prime minister's office, and 100 intelligence officials. Turkey's High Education Board has also reportedly called for all of the country's 1,577 university deans to resign.
The dismissals follow the Turkish government's characterization of the coup plotters as a "cancer" that must be "cleansed" from public institutions. All in all, Reuters reported, "authorities have suspended or detained close to 35,000 soldiers, police, judges, and civil servants," and "shut down media outlets" deemed to be in support of the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of inspiring the uprising. Some 6,000 people — 3,000 of them soldiers — have been detained in connection to the coup.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has urged Turkey to uphold its democratic principles.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
July 6 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include paying for school lunch by enlisting, and the banality of evil
-
5 biting editorial cartoons about 'Alligator Alcatraz'
Cartoons Artists take on dangerous green things, historical precedent, and more
-
A journey into the deep past on beautiful Arran
The Week Recommends New Unesco Global Geopark played a 'key role' in the birth of modern geological science
-
Penn wipes trans swimmer records in deal with Trump
speed read The University of Pennsylvania will bar transgender students from its women's sports teams and retroactively strip a trans female swimmer of her titles
-
Supreme Court may bless church-run charter schools
Speed Read The case is 'one of the biggest on church and state in a generation'
-
Harvard sues Trump over frozen grant money
Speed Read The Trump administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts after Harvard rejected its demands
-
Harvard loses $2.3B after rejecting Trump demands
speed read The university denied the Trump administration's request for oversight and internal policy changes
-
USC under fire for canceling valedictorian speech
Speed Read Citing safety concerns, the university canceled a pro-Palestinian student's speech
-
Florida teachers can 'say gay' under settlement
speed read The state reached a settlement with challengers of the 2022 "Don't Say Gay" education law
-
Biden administration to forgive $39B in student loan debt for 800K borrowers
Speed Read
-
Advocacy groups challenge Harvard's legacy admissions policy
Speed Read