Story highlights Teachers are accused of having links to Kurdish militants

Education Ministry: Number of suspended teachers could reach 14,000

Istanbul (CNN) Turkey has suspended thousands of teachers over alleged links to a militant Kurdish group, according to sources and state-run news agency Anadolu.

At least 11,285 schoolteachers across the country were suspended over suspected links to a separatist terrorist organization, Anadolu reported Thursday, citing Turkey's Education Ministry.

That number could reach 14,000 during an investigation conducted in coordination with governors' offices across the country, Anadolu reported.

Although the ministry did not specify the group, the term "separatist terrorist organization" usually refers to the Kurdistan worker's party, or PKK.

Later, a senior Turkish official confirmed to CNN that the "separatist organization" is PKK.

Read More</s>Image caption Children in Turkey start back at school next week

More than 11,000 teachers in Turkey have been suspended for alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a week before children go back to school.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim had said he thought as many as 14,000 teachers were associated with terror activities.

Turkey, alongside Western countries, regards the PKK as terrorists.

Tens of thousands of school workers and private teachers were purged separately after a failed coup in July.

Tens of thousands of people have died in a decades-long insurgency by the PKK, who want more self-rule for Kurdish people.

Who are the PKK?

Who are the Kurds?

Who did Turkey purge after the coup?

Turkey's education ministry said 11,285 teachers had been suspended and were on paid leave pending an investigation.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said they were suspected of activities "in support of the separatist terrorist organisation and its affiliates".

It also said the number was meant to grow to 14,000 after an investigation carried out alongside local governors' offices.

It is not clear what part of the country the suspended teachers are mainly from, but Turkey's Kurdish population is concentrated in the south-east, near the borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran.

There are 850,000 teachers in Turkey, meaning the suspensions only affect less than 2% of teachers.

However earlier this year, 15,200 education ministry officials lost their jobs and 21,000 private school teachers had their licences revoked, amid a crackdown on followers of cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed for the failed 15 July coup.</s>DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey is waging the largest operation in its history against Kurdish militants and the removal of civil servants linked to them is a key part of the fight, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, as more than 11,000 teachers were suspended.

The crackdown comes as Ankara also pushes ahead with a purge of tens of thousands of supporters of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey of orchestrating an attempted coup in July. Gulen denies any involvement.

Erdogan has repeatedly said he will not stop in his efforts to quash both the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) or followers of Gulen, a network Ankara has labeled as FETO, meaning “Gulen Terror Organisation”.

“We have run and are currently running the largest operations against the PKK terrorist organization in its history, both within and across our borders,” Erdogan said.

“Whether it’s the struggle against the PKK or against the FETO, an important dimension of this struggle is the removal of civil servants that are extensions of these organization within the state.”

Turkey has sacked or suspended 100,000 people following the failed July 15 coup. At least 40,000 people have been detained on suspicion of links to Gulen’s network and half of those arrested.

The scope of the crackdown has raised concern from rights groups and Turkey’s Western allies who fear Erdogan is using the failed coup as pretext to curtail dissent.

Following the coup, there has been no let-up in the government’s campaign against the PKK in the mainly Kurdish southeast. The group, seen as a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and the European Union, has waged a three-decade insurgency that has killed 40,000 people, most of them Kurds.

TEACHERS SUSPENDED

The government suspended 11,500 teachers over alleged links to the PKK, an official said on Thursday, after Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said during a visit to the region over the weekend that there were an estimated 14,000 teachers with links to the militants.

Security officials and local media reports said the state had appointed administrators to two municipalities in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, although the local governor later denied it.

“Reports on the taking over of two mayor’s offices in Diyarbakir do not reflect the truth. There has not been such an appointment at this stage. If there is an appointment, a statement will be made,” the governor’s office said in a statement.

Security officials, the private Dogan news agency, and the state-run Anadolu agency earlier said the government appointed the administrators to replace a pro-Kurdish party because of alleged support for Kurdish militants. Diyarbakir is a province in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast.

The Democratic Regions Party (DBP), which runs the councils and many across the region, has been dubbed by Erdogan as an extension of the PKK, which has fought a three-decades-old conflict in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

The DBP is the local partner of Turkey’s national pro-Kurdish opposition party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).</s>Turkey suspends 11,500 teachers over alleged links to Kurdish militants -official

ANKARA, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Turkey has suspended 11,500 teachers over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), a Turkish official said on Thursday, confirming an earlier report from broadcaster CNN Turk that cited the education ministry.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim visited the mainly Kurdish southeast over the weekend and said in a speech there that an estimated 14,000 teachers had links to the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the European Union and the United States. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by David Dolan)</s>Turkey has suspended 11,500 teachers over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party, a Turkish official said on Thursday, confirming an earlier report from broadcaster CNN Turk that cited the education ministry.

 Prime minister Binali Yildirim visited the mainly Kurdish southeast over the weekend and said in a speech there that an estimated 14,000 teachers had links to the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the European Union and the United States.</s>At least 11,285 schoolteachers across the country were suspended over suspected links to a separatist terrorist organization, Anadolu reported Thursday, citing Turkey's Education Ministry.

That number could reach 14,000 during an investigation conducted in coordination with governors' offices across the country, Anadolu reported.

Although the ministry did not specify the group, the term "separatist terrorist organization" usually refers to the Kurdistan worker's party, or PKK.

Later, a senior Turkish official confirmed to CNN that the "separatist organization" is PKK.

"There are more than 850,000 teachers in Turkey. The individuals in question are temporarily suspended, placed on paid leave, pending formal investigation," the official told CNN. "In this sense, I am not in a position to comment on the specific connection. More broadly, such steps are taken based on concrete evidence such as financial links, recruitment efforts etc." Turkey imposed a three-month state of emergency in July after an attempted coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It fired about 50,000 people after that failed coup. About 21,000 teachers in private institutions had their licenses revoked amid a crackdown on followers of Fethullah Gulen, the cleric blamed by Erdogan for the failed July 15 coup. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim vowed to suspend all teachers associated with the PKK. Speaking in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, which has been repeatedly hit by PKK attacks, Yildirim said some 14,000 teachers serving in the region were suspected of being linked to terrorism. The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July last year. The PKK claim to represent Turkey's largest ethic group, the Kurds, who make up an estimated 20% of the Turkish population. PKK has been battling the Turkish state off and on for some 30 years.</s>has suspended more than 10,000 teachers over suspected links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Turkish official said on Thursday, following a purge of education staff in the wake of the failed coup bid.

 ‘The individuals in question are temporarily suspended – placed on paid leave – pending formal investigation,’ the official said.

 A total of 11,500 teachers suspected by the education ministry of having engaged in activities ‘in support of the separatist terrorist organisation and its affiliates’ have been suspended, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

 The PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, is listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.

 The number was expected to go up to 14,000 based on the results of an investigation carried out in coordination with local governors’ offices, Anadolu said, without elaborating further.

 The suspension comes just over a week before the new school year gets underway in Turkey.

 In a key visit to the Kurdish-majority city Diyarbakir in the southeast on Sunday, prime minister Binali Yildirim said up to 14,000 teachers would be suspended over links to the PKK.

 There are 850,000 teachers in Turkey.

 The insurgency in the southeast has resumed after the collapse last year of a fragile ceasefire declared by the PKK.

 The latest move comes after the government has purged tens of thousands of education personnel, including teachers and university academics, after the July 15 coup attempt seeking to oust president Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.

 Turkish authorities have blamed the coup on Erdogan’s arch-foe, US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen.

 The government has vowed to press on with its campaign to eradicate the PKK from southeastern Turkey.

 Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the PKK first took up arms in 1984 with the aim of carving out an independent state for Turkey’s Kurdish minority.</s>DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Turkey took over two southeastern councils run by a pro-Kurdish party and suspended more than 11,000 teachers on Thursday as Ankara ratcheted up a crackdown on those it accuses of ties to Kurdish militants fighting an insurgency in the southeast.

The crackdown comes as Ankara pushes ahead with a purge against tens of thousands of supporters of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey of orchestrating an attempted coup in July. He denies any involvement.

Security officials said the state appointed administrators to the Sur district of the southeast's largest city Diyarbakir, an area severely damaged in fighting between security forces and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.

The Silvan district of Diyarbakir province was also brought under the control of administrators, with both councils targeted over what the officials said was their support for the PKK, deemed a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies.

The Democratic Regions Party (DBP), which runs the councils and many across the region, has been dubbed by President Tayyip Erdogan as an extension of the PKK, which has fought a three-decades-old conflict in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

The DBP is the local partner of Turkey's national pro-Kurdish opposition party, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

The government also suspended 11,500 teachers over alleged links to the PKK, an official said, after Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said during a visit to the region over the weekend that there were an estimated 14,000 teachers with links to the militants.

Erdogan said in a speech that Turkey was conducting the largest operations in its history against Kurdish militants in the southeast and that the removal of civil servants with links to them was a key element of the fight.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984 and the fighting flared up in July last year after the collapse of a two-year old ceasefire. (Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Seda Sezer; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by David Dolan)</s>Dozens held as teachers protest suspensions in Turkey's southeast, union says

DIYARBAKIR, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Turkish police detained dozens of people and used water cannon on Friday to disperse several hundred teachers demonstrating against their suspension from classrooms in the largely Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, union sources said and TV footage showed.

Brawls erupted and police pushed back crowds chanting "shoulder to shoulder against fascism" after Turkish authorities suspended more than 11,000 teachers on Thursday over alleged links with the Kurdish militants.

A further 418 teachers were also suspended from duty in the predominantly Kurdish eastern province of Tunceli on Friday. Several hundred teachers gathered in front of the education ministry's provincial building to protest.

"This is an attack on our unionised struggle," Suleyman Guler, the provincial head of the education union, Egitim-Sen, told Reuters. Guler was also suspended from work.

"It is not possible to accept this decision. There is neither a crime here nor a criminal. We call for the immediate halt of this move," he said.

The suspensions were part of the government's campaign against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the mainly Kurdish southeast. It comes as Ankara also pushes ahead with a purge of tens of thousands of supporters of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey accuses of orchestrating an attempted coup in July. Gulen denies any involvement.

The scope of that crackdown has raised concern among rights groups and Turkey's Western allies, who fear President Tayyip Erdogan is using the failed coup as pretext to curtail dissent.

The anti-PKK campaign is Turkey's largest ever against the group, and the removal of civil servants linked to the PKK is a key part of the fight, Erdogan said on Thursday.

Demonstrations have been banned across Diyarbakir province since mid-August during the state of emergency declared after the failed coup. On Friday, the Diyarbakir governor's office also imposed a curfew in more than a dozen neighbourhoods across three districts, as security operations were planned against Kurdish militants in the region.

More than 40,000 people have died since autonomy-seeking PKK launched its insurgency against the Turkish state more than 30 years ago. The PKK is regarded as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. (Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by David Dolan, Larry King)</s>Dozens held as teachers protest suspensions in Turkey's southeast, union says

DIYARBAKIR, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Turkish police detained dozens of people and used water cannon on Friday to disperse several hundred teachers demonstrating against their suspension from classrooms in the largely Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, union sources said and TV footage showed.

Brawls erupted and police pushed back crowds chanting "shoulder to shoulder against fascism" after Turkish authorities suspended more than 11,000 teachers on Thursday over alleged links with the Kurdish militants.

A further 1,151 teachers were also suspended from duty in the predominantly Kurdish eastern provinces of Tunceli and Van on Friday, Dogan news agency reported. Several hundred teachers gathered in front of the education ministry's provincial building Tunceli to protest, Reuters TV footage showed.

"This is an attack on our unionised struggle," Suleyman Guler, the provincial head of the education union, Egitim-Sen, told Reuters. Guler was also suspended from work.

"It is not possible to accept this decision. There is neither a crime here nor a criminal. We call for the immediate halt of this move," he said.

The suspensions were part of the government's campaign against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the mainly Kurdish southeast. It comes as Ankara also pushes ahead with a purge of tens of thousands of supporters of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey accuses of orchestrating an attempted coup in July. Gulen denies any involvement.

The scope of that crackdown has raised concern among rights groups and Turkey's Western allies, who fear President Tayyip Erdogan is using the failed coup as pretext to curtail dissent.

The anti-PKK campaign is Turkey's largest ever against the militant group, and the removal of civil servants linked to the PKK is a key part of the fight, Erdogan said on Thursday.

Turkey will remove municipal managers who support the PKK and appoint new administrators to more than two dozen municipalities, interior minister Suleyman Soylu told state broadcaster TRT.

"The management of 28 municipalities will be removed from under the instructions of Qandil and will be transformed to the will of the sons of this nation," he said, referring to the Qandil mountains in northern Iraq where the PKK's senior leadership is based.

Demonstrations have been banned across Diyarbakir province since mid-August during the state of emergency declared after the failed coup. On Friday, the Diyarbakir governor's office also imposed a curfew in more than a dozen neighbourhoods across three districts, as security operations were planned against Kurdish militants in the region.

More than 40,000 people have died since autonomy-seeking PKK launched its insurgency against the Turkish state more than 30 years ago. The PKK is regarded as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. (Additional reporting by Ercan Gurses in Ankara; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by David Dolan, Larry King)
Turkey suspends 11,500 teachers over alleged links to separatist terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) a week before the start of school.