Turkey suspends more than 11,000 teachers suspected of having ties to terrorist group

At least 11,000 teachers in Turkey suspected of having links to an unnamed "separatist terrorist organization" have been suspended, state-run news service Anadolu reported Thursday.

Turkey's Education Ministry says up to 14,000 teachers could ultimately be suspended. A senior Turkish official told CNN the "separatist terrorist organization" is the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has been fighting the Turkish state on and off for almost three decades. There are more than 850,000 teachers in the country, and the official said the suspensions are temporary, pending formal investigations, and the teachers are being paid.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed a coup attempt in July on the cleric Fethullah Gulen, and 21,000 teachers in private schools accused of being his followers have had their licenses revoked.

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