Gulen has denied any knowledge of the attempted coup.
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No information was provided about the ranks and positions of the detainees.
The crackdown on media comes on the heels of tens of thousands of suspensions, dismissals and detainments in the country following the failed coup. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them.
Turkey declared a state of emergency following the coup attempt and almost 16,000 people were detained over suspected links to the failed uprising. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people excluding the coup plotters and over 2,000 people were wounded.
Citing intelligence reports, Turkey’s justice minister said on Thursday that Gulen, once a powerful ally of Erdogan, could flee his residence in the usa state of Pennsylvania.
Three news agencies, 16 television stations, 23 radio stations, 45 newspapers, 15 magazines and 29 publishers are among those that have been shut down.
The United States has described the targeting of journalists as a “troubling trend”.
“This attempt aimed to weaken the state with all its institutions by getting rid of the government completely”, the indictment said.
Cavusoglu told broadcaster CNN Turk that some prosecutors with links to Gulen had fled to Germany and he urged Berlin to extradite them.
Arrest warrants were issued for 89 journalists and dozens of media organizations were ordered shuttered.
Prepared by the Edirne Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and accepted by the Second Heavy Penal Court, the indictment said the operations carried out by prosecutors and security officials during the December 17 process can be taken as a good example.
“There is no doubt that we will eradicate all terrorist organizations threatening our state, our nation and our territorial integrity”, Yildirim said, reading from a message he wrote in the mausoleum visitors’ book.
Changes since the coup include bringing the gendarmerie, which is responsible for security in rural areas, and the coast guard firmly under interior ministry control rather than under General Staff control.
“As he seeks to purge still more dissenters from government agencies – almost 70,000 people have been fired so far – and to crack down further on Hizmet and other civil society organizations, he is removing numerous remaining impediments to absolute power”, Gulen warns.
Bozdag said Turkey was receiving intelligence that Gulen might flee, possibly to Australia, Mexico, Canada, South Africa or Egypt. Egypt said it had not received an asylum request.
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The European Union and journalist associations expressed concern Thursday about a widening crackdown on media in Turkey, calling on Ankara to respect fundamental freedoms.
