Seventeen journalists remanded in custody by an Istanbul court over links to Gulen woke up in jails across the city on Saturday as worldwide concern grows over the targeting of reporters in the wake of the putsch.
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Twenty-one journalists had appeared before a judge in hearings lasting until midnight on Friday.
Those held include the veteran journalist Nazli Ilicak as well as the former correspondent for the pro-Gulen Zaman daily Hanim Busra Erdal. Among the four freed was prominent commentator Bulent Mumay. It was a madness.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that more than 300 of his personnel have links to Gülen.
Erdogan, who narrowly escaped capture and possibly death on the night of the coup, denies the crackdown has wider aims and says the Gulen movement threatened democracy by attempting to build a “parallel state” within the military, media and civil service.
The president has faced criticism over the scale of the crackdown in the aftermath of the coup, which has seen the arrest, removal and suspension of more than 70,000 people, according to the latest figures cited by the state-run Anadolu news agency, affecting workers in the judiciary, the education system, media, health care and other sectors.
“And if there is even the slightest doubt that the [treatment] is improper, then the consequences will be inevitable”, he told German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Amnesty says it has “credible evidence” Turkish police are holding detainees in stress positions for up to 48 hours, denying them food, water and medical treatment and in the worst cases some have been subjected to severe beatings and torture, including rape. Mind your own business!
Mr Erdogan also said he wanted to introduce constitutional changes to bring the Turkish spy agency and military chief of staff directly under his control.
Erdogan criticized the European Council and the European Union, which Turkey aspires to be a part of, for failing to visit to offer condolences, saying their criticism was “shameful”. The dishonorable discharges included around 40 percent of Turkey’s admirals and generals.
“Our armed forces will be much stronger with the latest decree we are preparing”.
Erdogan had earlier also lashed out at a top USA general who had expressed concerns about military relations after the putsch, accusing him of “taking the side of the plotters”.
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In the past, numerous military coups have taken place in Turkey and the country’s constitution actually grants the military the authority to “step in” when needed, with military leaders operating independent of politics.
