Turkish authorities have issued arrest warrants for 42 journalists as part of the investigation into the failed coup aimed at toppling the president, reports say.
Ankara – Turkish authorities on Monday issued arrest warrants for over 40 journalists in a new phase of the controversial legal crackdown after the failed coup, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was to host opposition party chiefs for an unprecedented meeting.
Over 13,000 people have been detained so far in a vast sweep in the wake of the July 15 coup bid, which the authorities blame on the reclusive US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.
The crackdown has raised tensions with the European Union, further hampering Ankara’s stalled membership bid, while a potential diplomatic crisis with Washington is looming if the United States refuses to extradite Gulen to Turkey.
Istanbul anti-terror prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 42 journalists as part of the investigation into the failed coup, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
Among those targeted by the warrants were prominent journalist Nazli Ilicak who was fired from the pro-government Sabah daily in 2013 for criticizing ministers caught up in a corruption scandal, it added.
The government blamed the 2013 corruption scandal on Gulen, with some officials at the time calling it a coup bid aimed at ousting the president.
Five people have been detained so far although 11 of the suspects are believed to be already outside the country, the Dogan news agency said. Police were searching for Ilicak in the holiday resort of Bodrum.
Erdogan’s government had been under fire even before the failed putsch for restricting press freedoms in Turkey, accusations the authorities strongly deny.
In new raids on Monday, police detained some 40 suspects at the army’s military academy on the European side of Istanbul.
Meanwhile, 31 academics, including professors were detained in an operation centered on Istanbul over alleged links to Gulen, Dogan said.
Amnesty International in London claimed it had “credible evidence” of the beating and torture of post-coup detainees but a Turkish official vehemently denied the accusations.
Turkey has undergone a seismic shift since the night of violence when renegade soldiers sought to topple Erdogan but were stopped by crowds of civilians and loyalist security forces. At least 270 people were killed on both sides.