As a candidate nation for European Union membership, Turkey “needs to aspire to the highest possible democratic standard and practices, including on the freedom of the media”, said European Union spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic.
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However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed. Gulen himself has denied any knowledge of the attempted coup.
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. Its clampdown seeks to target anyone suspected of ties to USA -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the government accuses of masterminding the plot. “This principle of proportionality must be respected under all circumstances”. They have also issued warrants for the detention of 47 former executives or senior journalists of Turkey’s Zaman newspaper.
On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country.
That includes 45 newspapers, 16 TV channels and three news agencies.
Turkey has detained more than 13,000 people in the military, judiciary and other institutions in purges since the uprising. Reporting in the Taraf newspaper was instrumental in the 2010 trial of pro-secular military officers accused of plotting against the government.
But the speed and scope of the current crackdown has alarmed media rights groups.
Those arrests came in addition to the 42 other journalists for whom arrest warrants were issued on Monday.
Erdogan, who narrowly escaped capture and possible death on the night of the coup, told Reuters in an interview last week that the military, NATO’S second biggest, needed “fresh blood”.
Universities, schools and media outlets have also been closed down.
Local journalist Latif Simsek, who reported on the case after hearing about it from another man, said “I thought he was kidding [but] then I called Erzurum Metropolitan Mayor, Mehmet Sekman”.
In a phone conversation, Ban told Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that “credible evidence” must be presented swiftly so that the detainees’ legal status could be determined by a court of law.
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Amnesty International also voiced concerns, saying the “ongoing crackdown on civil society and the assault on media freedom has reached disturbing and unprecedented levels”. Of these, almost 16,000 have been detained, with about half having been formally charged and jailed pending trial, according to the government.
