The Turkish government on Tuesday escalated its wide-ranging crackdown against people it claims have ties to plotters of last week's attempted coup, firing tens of thousands of public employees across the country.
The dismissals touched every aspect of government life.
Turkish media, in rapid-fire reports, said the Ministry of Education fired 15,200 people across the country; the Interior Ministry 8,777 employees; and Turkey's Board of Higher Education requested the resignation of 1,577 university deans - akin to dismissing them.
In addition, 257 people working at the office of the prime minister were dismissed and the Directorate of Religious Affairs announced it had sacked 492 staff including clerics, preachers and religious teachers. Turkey's Family and Social Policy Ministry said it dismissed 393 personnel.
The firings come on top of the roughly 9,000 people who have been detained by the government, including security personnel, judges, prosecutors, religious figures and others. Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said courts have ordered 85 generals and admirals jailed pending trial over their suspected roles in the coup attempt. Dozens of others were still being questioned.
Orhun Gedik, a 22-year-student in Istanbul, protested the new purges, saying politics and education shouldn't mix.
"A government should not decide the hiring and firing," he said. "This government doesn't want to listen to others."
Critics of the government were also targeted for their social media postings. At least two people were reportedly arrested for insulting Erdogan on social media, while one also praised the coup.
The violence surrounding the Friday night coup attempt claimed the lives of 208 government supporters and 24 coup plotters, according to the government. Turkey says Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Muslim cleric, was behind the coup and has demanded his extradition. Gulen has denied any knowledge.
Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for Erdogan, blamed a "Gulenist clique within the Turkish army" for the attempted coup.