ISTANBUL — Asserting that “all the evidence” points to a US-based Muslim cleric as the mastermind of last week’s failed coup, Turkey yesterday fired tens of thousands of teachers, university deans and others accused of ties to the plot as its purge continued. “A person of this kind can easily be extradited on grounds of suspicion,” said the spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin. Deep Split as Erdogan’s purge widens dramatically Wednesday, July 20, 2016 50,000 suspended from jobs as Turkey targets education sectorTurkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili after having returned to the nation’s capital for the first time since an attempted coup in the country, at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, yesterday. “And there is very strong suspicion for his involvement, for Gülen’s involvement, in this coup attempt. 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.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald July 20, 2016 02:48 UTC