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 purge of those deemed disloyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan widened Wednesday to include teachers, university deans and the media. The government says they are allied to US-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. Meanwhile, Turkey issued a blanket travel ban on all academics in the country, reported the state broadcaster TRT. The move is the latest in a massive crackdown against professionals in Turkey following a failed coup attempt by renegade military units that has seen tens of thousands of judges, civil servants, military and police fired or detained. The government is presenting the measures as an effort to root out a wide-ranging conspiracy led by Gulen and as a way of curbing the influence of the once-powerful military. Critics, however, feel that the government is using the coup as an excuse to eliminate the last vestiges of opposition to its rule. A senior Turkish official described the travel ban on academics as just a "temporary measure." "As you surely know, universities have always been crucial for military juntas in Turkey, and certain individuals are believed to be in contact with cells within military," he said. Many academics have been critical of Erdogan in the past. The state telecommunications authority has also announced it has blocked access to WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing website, after it announced the release of nearly 300,000 emails from Erdogan's party. The site said it was releasing the emails, which could possibly contain material embarrassing to the government, earlier than planned "in response to the government's post-coup purges," though the latest of the emails dates to a week before the coup took place. The government has also announced an "important decision" is expected later in the day after a meeting of the national security leaders, raising expectations that more purges will follow. Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey's minister of foreign affairs, said in an interview that the issue of civilian oversight of the military — a matter of long-standing debate within Turkish politics — would be addressed during the national security meeting. A government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement has yet to be made public, also said military reforms could be proposed. The national security meeting meeting will be the president's first chance since the coup attempt to sit and talk in person with all key members of the government and armed forces. Erdogan's task is to re-impose stability amid the turmoil, and to reassure the country and Turkey's allies abroad that he is not embarking on a witch-hunt against his many critics. The media regulation body on Tuesday also revoked the licenses of 24 radio and TV channels accused of links to Gulen. The news came on top of the arrests of over 6,000 military personnel and sacking of nearly 9,000 police officers.
