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> 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> 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> 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> 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> Turkey dismissed 4,464 public servants, more than half from the Education Ministry, in a decree published on Tuesday, extending a purge of state officials following a failed coup in July.

Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 125,000 officials since the coup attempt, and formally arrested some 40,000 people from the military, police and other sectors. </s> ISTANBUL -- Turkey's state-run news agency says 10,131 more civil servants have been dismissed for alleged ties to terrorism while 15 mostly pro-Kurdish media outlets also have been shut down.

The dismissals were announced in the latest governmental decree issued over the weekend.

Turkey declared a state of emergency following the July 15 coup attempt allowing the government to rule by decree. It has since suspended tens of thousands of people from civil service over suspected links to terrorist organizations.

The latest dismissals include 2,534 personnel from the Justice Ministry, 2,219 from the Education Ministry, 2,774 from the Health Ministry, 1,267 from higher education institutions and 101 from the armed forces.

The same decree also shut down 15 mostly pro-Kurdish media outlets on similar grounds. </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> Turkey dismisses more than 4,000 public servants in new decree - official gazette

ANKARA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Turkey dismissed 4,464 public servants, more than half from the Education Ministry, in a decree published on Tuesday, extending a purge of state officials following a failed coup in July.

Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 125,000 officials since the coup attempt, and formally arrested some 40,000 people from the military, police and other sectors.
Turkey suspends another 1,980 teachers and school employees for alleged connections to the coup attempt.