<p>
	Turkey&#39;s higher education council has banned academics from work trips abroad and urged those overseas to quickly return home, the state-run Anadolu news agency has reported.</p>
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	Turkey has widened its massive post-coup purge from the military and police to the education sector to root out supporters of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom it accuses of orchestrating last Friday&#39;s failed bid.</p>
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	The cleric, who lives in Pennsylvania, has denied the accusation.</p>
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	Yesterday, the government suspended 15,200 state education employees and demanded the resignation of almost 1,600 deans from private and state universities over alleged links to Mr Gulen.</p>
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	Mr Gulen retains vast interests in Turkey ranging from media to finance to schools and wields influence in various apparatus including the judiciary and police.</p>
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	Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to chair meetings of his national security council and cabinet in Ankara.</p>
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	He has returned to the capital for the first time since the failed coup aimed at ousting him from power.</p>
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	Mr Erdogan, who was in the Aegean resort of Marmaris when the coup struck late on Friday, flew to Istanbul where he had stayed since, appearing before supporters each night.</p>
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	But the president returned to the capital last night for the first time since the coup attempt, a Turkish official said.</p>
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	He also held his first international bilateral meeting, hosting Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili for talks at his presidential palace in Ankara.</p>
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	The president will later chair a meeting of his national security council for the first time since the coup at his presidential palace, his office said.</p>
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	The council is composed of top military figures and security ministers.</p>
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	Mr Erdogan will then chair a meeting of the cabinet, also at the palace, whose immediate vicinity was bombed during the botched coup bid.</p>
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	He told supporters in Istanbul this week that &quot;an important decision&quot; would be announced after the national security council meeting, without specifying.</p>
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	&nbsp;</p>
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	The crunch meetings come as controversy grows over the scope of the legal crackdown against those behind the coup plot.</p>
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	Yesterday, the government suspended 15,200 state education employees allegedly linked to US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen who Ankara blames for the coup.</p>
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	&nbsp;</p>
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	About 9,300 people have also been detained, including top generals accused of treason for allegedly masterminding the plot as well as soldiers, police and judges.</p>
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	(Published by RTE.ie on the 20th July 2016)</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0720/803549-turkey-erdogan/?google_editors_picks=true">http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0720/803549-turkey-erdogan/?google_editors_picks=true</a></p>
