Turkish authorities have arrested the editor of a leading newspaper as part of an investigation into last month’s failed coup.
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The office is investigating the movement led by US -based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara alleges was responsible for the violent July 15 coup attempt that left over 270 people dead.
Turkey has also closed more than 130 media outlets and arrested more than 60 journalists since a state of emergency was declared after July 15, according to the Brussels-based European Federation of Journalists.
It said Dincer Gokce, a Hurriyet editor, was detained with nine others after the Istanbul prosecutor issued detention warrants for 35 people in a probe into backers of USA -based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey says masterminded the putsch. Gulen denies any involvement.
Nine of the suspects were arrested, 18 are believed to have fled Turkey and the remaining eight are being hunted.
Eighteen of the suspects had already left the country and eight others were still being sought, NTV said.
Meanwhile, Turkish media reports a former Istanbul police chief was also detained. Col. Nebi Gazneli and Col. Muslum Kaya had been detained in the central Anatolian province of Konya earlier this month and brought to Istanbul. “The Turkish government accuses the Hizmet movement, or FETO [the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization], of being a terrorist organization with a parallel state structure that orchestrated the attempted coup”, the press release reads.
Some 35,000 people have been detained for questioning and more than 17,000 of them have been formally arrested to face trial, including soldiers, police, judges and journalists. Some 80,000 people in the judiciary, police, civil service and elsewhere have been sacked or suspended.
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Ankara’s moves have raised concerns among Turkey’s Western allies and human rights organisations, who have urged the government to show restraint.
