Turkey - Turkish coup crackdown exceeds 50,000

More than 50,000 people have been rounded up, sacked or suspended from their jobs by Turkey’s government in the wake of last week’s failed coup.

The BBC reports that the purge of those deemed disloyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan widened on Tuesday to include teachers, university deans and the media.

The government said they are allied to United States-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who denies claims he directed the uprising.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the preacher led a “terrorist organization.”

“We will dig them up by their roots,” he told parliament.

A Turkish government spokesman suggested that the U.S should be able to extradite the cleric “on grounds of suspicion” rather than requiring facts of the case against him.

“There is very strong suspicion for his [Gulen’s] involvement in this coup attempt. So this is sufficient grounds,” said spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.

For his part, Mr. Gulen said claims he was behind the coup attempt are “ridiculous.”

“I urge the U.S government to reject any effort to abuse the extradition process to carry out political vendettas,” he said in a statement.

Turkey is pressing the U.S to extradite Mr. Gulen and the issue was raised during a phone call between U.S President Barack Obama and President Erdogan on Tuesday, the White House said.

Spokesman Josh Earnest said a decision on whether or not to extradite would be made under a treaty between the two countries.

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