Turkey has issued a blanket ban on academics leaving the country amid a wide-ranging purge of government workers, soldiers, journalists, judicial employees, universities, and police in the wake of last week’s failed coup. As many as 50,000 people have now been rounded up, arrested, or fired, according to reports. President Tayyip Erdoğan’s crackdown, officials say, is intended to root out anyone with ties to Fethullah Gülen, the Islamic cleric in exile in the U.S. who loyalists say inspired the failed coup last week. Some detainees have been brutalized or humiliated in the process, reports say, as photos of captives sitting on the ground stripped down to their underwear were circulated on social media. Others claim the crackdown is just a means of suppressing dissent. State news reported Wednesday that on the night of the coup, some soldiers involved in the uprising were told they were going to “capture an important terrorist leader” and were not even aware of the attempt to overthrow Erdoğan’s government. Certain soldiers were only informed of their missions while en route to apprehend the president.
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