Turkey shuts down a hundred media outlets and sack almost half its generals as the crackdown intensifies in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.
ADVERTISEMENTIn Turkey, the sweeping crackdown following this month’s failed military coup shows no sign of abating.
More than 130 media outlets have been shut down, Reuters reported citing official sources. That includes 45 newspapers, 16 TV channels and three news agencies.
The list of journalists detained keeps on growing. Forty-two arrest warrants were reportedly issued on Monday, and another 47 on Wednesday.
Those detained include staff of Zaman newspaper, which was seized by authorities earlier this year over its ties to exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, the archenemy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
But Western leaders have voiced concern Erdogan is using the post-coup purges more broadly to silence the opposition.
Turkey ‘fires 1,700 military officers and closes dozens of media groups' https://t.co/UtbG79ehUu
— The Independent (@Independent) July 27, 2016
About 40 percent of Turkish generals and admirals discharged in post-coup crackdown https://t.co/4X2Oct94Qy
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) July 27, 2016
More than 60,000 people have been suspended, detained or placed under investigation since the failed coup.
About 1,700 hundred military personnel have been discharged – among them, almost 40 percent of all Turkish generals and admirals.
Turkish special forces were also hunting around the Mediterranean resort of Marmaris for a group of commandos thought to have tried to capture or kill Erdogan on the night of July 15.
#Turkey crackdown by the numbers: Statistics on brutal backlash after failed coup. https://t.co/AWGVYFknPrpic.twitter.com/majzBu9rXq
— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) July 27, 2016