All PKK-associated teachers to be suspended: Turkish PM

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim vowed Sunday to suspend all teachers associated with the PKK terrorist organization.

Speaking in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, which has been repeatedly targeted by PKK terrorist attacks, Yildirim said it is estimated that some 14,000 teachers serving in the region are somehow associated with terrorism.

Investigations will cast light on “how many of these are directly associated with the terrorist organization, and how many are not,” he added.

“Schools will open following the Feast of the Sacrifice holiday [Eid al-Adha],” after mid-September, he said. “We have spoken with the education minister and as a precaution, all suspicious teachers who have been duly discovered will be suspended from duty.”

Yildirim said that those teachers will not be on duty in the upcoming school year, and will be replaced by new teachers.