Turkey purges 15,200 education workers over failed coup

Relatives mourn during the funeral of a cop in Istanbul.

Ankara: Turkey suspended 15,200 Education Ministry personnel from duty on Tuesday amid a nationwide purge of state officials suspected of having links to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation (FETÖ), which Turkey blames for the July 15 failed coup attempt.

Relatives mourn during the funeral of a cop in Istanbul. Pic/AFP

"Our ministry is carrying out extensive efforts aimed at public personnel in central and rural districts who have connections to FETÖ. As of Tuesday, 15,200 public officials had been suspended and investigations were launched into them," the Ministry tweeted.

Turkey's Prime Ministry suspended 257 personnel, including 230 judicial clerks, 19 specialists, six advisers and two legal advisers. PM Binali Yildirim said 1,500 officials in the Finance Ministry had also been suspended.

In a related case, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters that 9,322 people were currently under legal proceedings in relation to the attempted coup.

A total of 240 people, of whom 62 were cops, 173 were civilians and five were soldiers, were killed during the failed coup attempt and 1,535 people were wounded.

21,000
The number of teachers working in private institutions whose licenses were cancelled

1,557
The number of deans on duty whose resignation has been demanded