Turkey coup: PM suspends annual leave for over three million civil servants

Public sector employees are also banned from travelling abroad

The order from Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said annual leave had been suspended until further notice (ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

The Turkish Prime Minister has suspended the annual leave of more than three million civil servants nationwide, according to a government order.

The order, published in Turkey's Official Gazette, said annual leave had been suspended until further notice and civil servants already on leave will return to their posts as soon as possible.

Public sector employees have also been banned from travelling abroad, Turkish broadcaster NTV reports.

It comes amid a wide-ranging purge of the civil service, judiciary, police and armed forces followed a failed coup attempt.

Turkey's state-run news agency says the Interior Ministry has sacked close to 9,000 personnel across the country.

Anadolu Agency says a total of 8,777 employees attached to the ministry were dismissed, including 30 governors, 52 civil service inspectors and 16 legal advisers.

Other media reports said police and military police officers and coast guards were also removed from duty.

The government has blamed the failed coup - which led to at least 232 deaths and wounded 1,400 others - on supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric who has become President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chief opponent.

The European Union and the United States expressed alarm with Turkey's response to the failed coup, telling the NATO member and EU aspirant it must uphold democracy and human rights as it pursues the military officers and anyone else involved in the plot.

"This is no excuse to take the country away from fundamental rights and the rule of law, and we will be extremely vigilant on that," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Additional reporting by agencies