Turkey’s state-run television station says authorities have issued warrants for the detention of 42 journalists as the country presses ahead with a crackdown against people with alleged links to a USA -based Muslim cleric in the wake of a failed coup.
Advertisement
Eleven of the journalists for whom warrants have been issued have left the country, eight after the coup attempt and three before, the agency said.
Turkey, which accused Gulen of being behind the failed July 15 coup, has demanded the extradition of Gulen from the US.
Gulen, who lives in the United States, has denied any involvement in the failed insurrection that was put down by loyalist forces and pro-government protesters who converged on the tanks of rebel units.
Gulen’s nephew, Muhammet Sait Gulen, was also detained, Anadolu reported.
Prosecutors said that journalist detentions were meant to help shed light on the coup plot, while the warrants were not related to their “journalistic activities but possible criminal conduct”.
The government took over Bugun last year, changed its editorial direction and then shut it down, one of several media outlets that have come under fire in Turkey in recent years.
In new raids on Monday, police detained some 40 people at the army’s military academy in Istanbul. However, rights group Amnesty International said it had received credible evidence of detainees being subjected to beatings and torture, including rape, since the coup attempt. The country plays an pivotal role in the US -led fight against Islamic State and in containing the flow of refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria.
Berat Albayrak, the energy minister and Mr Erdogan’s son-in-law, said the government was determined to clamp down on the coup plotters but would take utmost care to ensure that anyone not involved in the conspiracy is not harmed.
With Erdogan seeking to rally national cross-party support for his rule 10 days after defeating the attempted putsch, he hosted two top opposition leaders for an unprecedented meeting at his presidential palace.
More than 13,000 people in the military, judiciary and other institutions have been detained since the uprising, which killed about 290 people.
“We urge Turkey’s global partners not to turn a blind eye to the human rights abuses being carried out in the name of upholding democracy”.
“They are traitors”, Erdogan told Reuters in an interview last week. “I am very sure they don’t have any hesitation about this”.
The government purge contined with Turkish Airlines.
The company’s statement said the contracts of the workers had been terminated not only because of their connections with the US-based cleric, but also because of their low efficiency.
Those fired included seven people in managerial positions and 15 pilots, according to the private Turkish news agency Dogan.
Advertisement
Turkish Airlines did not immediately comment on how the dismissals would impact its operations.
