Turkey fires 2,500 religious staff in post-coup purge

Turkish authorities removed from office more than 2,500 religious staff in a continuing hunt against supporters of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, allegedly the mastermind behind the botched coup last month.

According to the AFP, Turkey's powerful religion agency known as the Religious Affairs Directorate or Diyanet said in a statement that "the commission created for this purpose (to find Gulen sympathisers) continued its rigorous work" and suspended 2,500 of its employees.

The agency also fired 492 religious officials for charges of "terrorism" links only a few days after the aborted military coup on the night of July 15.

Authorities already sacked about 9,000 police officers, almost 3,000 judges, 15,200 teachers and others in the education realm, 1,577 university deans, 8,777 interior ministry officials, 1,500 finance officials and 257 employees of the prime minister's office.

Turkish strongman and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan charged Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S., for instigating the armed coup. Gülen denied the allegations and shot back with the possibility that Erdogan orchestrated the coup in order to clamp down on political dissidents.

"There is a slight chance, there is a possibility that it could be a staged coup. It could be meant for court accusations and associations," the Daily Mail quoted the 75-year-old former imam as saying.

Erdogan has since strongly demanded that the U.S. extradite Gülen immediately.

"I say if we are strategic partners then you should bring about our request," he said.

However, Gülen still remains in his Pennsylvania home, and the European Union's rebuke on the post-coup arrests did not sit well with Turkey.

Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at St. Petersburg on Tuesday as a sign of renewed relations between the two countries after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter plane that strayed on the borders of Syria and Turkish airspace last year.

According to CBC News, foreign affairs analyst Tony Brenton said that the West should not be surprised with the steps taken by the two countries as international relations remain to be "a pretty pragmatic business."

Yet, he added, "It does raise questions about if we are tough with these countries, tough with China, and we do therefore push them into the same corner, is that actually advantageous for us in security terms?"