Turkey has banned all academics from leaving the country as President Tayyip Erdogan's post-coup crackdown escalated to exceptional proportions. Turkey has detained, suspended, fired or stripped the professional accreditation of about 60,000 people, according to calculations by news agency Bloomberg.Reports yesterday said Turkish authorities would consider extraordinary measures, including the introduction of a state of emergency.The national security council - made up of Turkey's top generals, Erdogan and government members - "may take some steps" if it decides a state of emergency is necessary, AK Party deputy chairman Cevdet Yilmaz said.Teachers were yesterday told they could not travel abroad for work, and those overseas were ordered to return to Turkey.One British lecturer at a state-run university in Istanbul said that foreign nationals had also been told to come back to work."It's summer break and we've all been summoned back to work as all annual leave has been cancelled," said the teacher, who did not wish to give her name.A senior Turkish official described the travel ban on academics as just a "temporary measure"."Universities have always been crucial for military juntas in Turkey, and certain individuals are believed to be in contact with cells within military," he said.On Tuesday the licences of 21000 staff working in private schools were revoked, more than 15000 employees at the education ministry were sacked, and the state-run higher education council demanded the resignation of 1577 university deans.The government has accused a US-based Muslim cleric of masterminding the attempted coup, in which more than 230 people were killed. The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, denies the accusation.Gulen lives in Pennsylvania but retains vast interests in Turkey - in media, finance and schools - and wields influence in the country's judiciary and police."We are witnessing a crackdown of exceptional proportions in Turkey at the moment," an Amnesty International statement said."They must abide by the rule of law and respect freedom of expression."The crunch meetings come as controversy grows over the scope of the crackdown in the wake of the coup plot, with global leaders urging Turkey to obey the rule of law.Erdogan's suggestion that the death penalty could be reinstated has sent shudders through Europe, with the EU warning such a move would be the nail in the coffin of Turkey's already embattled bid to join the bloc...