In six years, Turkey has transformed from a model of Islamic piety, Western-style democracy and economic growth to a nation racked with tension, terror attacks and a dominating President whose power has reached new levels after the failed coup attempt. Both are “Orgeneral”, Turkey’s highest rank for a general.
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Since the attempted coup, more than 60,000 soldiers, police, teachers, judges, civil servants and others have been detained, suspended, or placed under investigation.
More than 10,000 soldiers and around half of the 358 generals have been detained, leaving gaping holes in the command structure to be filled.
Amid a state of emergency, 45 newspapers, 16 television stations and three news agencies have been closed, state-run news agency Anadolu said Wednesday.
The detention of journalists and wide-scale purges of officials have raised concerns about a possible witch hunt by the government in the wake of the coup attempt that killed about 290 people.
Zaman and a sister publication were raided by police in March for their supposed connection to the Hizmet religious movement led by exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania.
The official insisted the warrants were not related to what individual columnists had previously said or written.
Wednesday’s warrants came after authorities on Monday issued another 42 arrest warrants for journalists, including prominent veteran reporters.
Alpay is a former official of Turkey’s left-leaning, secularist main opposition CHP party.
Yildirim also denied claims that detainees are being tortured or mistreated.
Separately, Turkey’s capital markets board said it had revoked the licence of the head of research at brokerage AK Investment and called for him to face charges over a report he wrote to investors analysing the coup.
In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who has previously compared Erdogan to a dictator, said Turkey’s political parties could re-boot tense relationships following the trauma of the July 15 insurrection. At least 8,651 military personnel were involved, it said, adding that they constituted 1.5 percent of the Armed Forces’ personnel.
In Greece, authorities on Wednesday postponed hearings for eight Turkish soldiers who sought asylum there after fleeing Turkey.
The incident provoked Russian trade sanctions but there are signs of rapprochement, with Turkey thanking Moscow for its solid support during the abortive putsch.
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Turkey wants the United States to extradite Gulen, while Washington has said it will do so only if there is clear evidence.
