Turkey Government Closes 131 Media Organizations as Crackdown Continues

More than 130 media organizations have been close in Turkey, as a crackdown continues following the failed coup on July 15.

According to Turkish authorities, 3 news agencies, 16 TV channels, 23 radio stations, 45 papers, 15 magazines and 29 publishers will be shut.

In March, Zaman, once one of Turkey’s biggest newspapers, was put under state control. Arrest warrants have been issued for 47 staff.

Many of the media outlets are linked to the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen

The government says Fethullah Gulen was behind the army-led attempted coup, a claim he denies.

Separately, the government announced on July 27 that nearly 1,700 members of the armed forces, including 149 generals and admirals had been discharged.

At least 246 people died during the coup, and more than 2,000 people were injured.

Both the closure of the media outlets and the soldiers’ dismissal were announced in Turkey’s official Resmi Gazete.

While most are relatively small provincial outlets, several with a national audience have also been targeted.

Zaman‘s readers were mostly Fethullah Gulen supporters, who stopped reading it after the state takeover in March, rendering it unprofitable.

In addition to the warrants issued for the 47 Zaman staff, authorities had sought the arrest of 42 other journalists earlier in the week.

Among those discharged from the armed forces are 87 army generals, 30 air force generals and 32 admirals.

The Turkish army also revealed that 8,651 members, or 1.5%, of the nation’s armed forces had taken part in the failed coup.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to purge state bodies of the “virus” he says caused the revolt.

Last week, Turkey declared a three-month state of emergency, allowing the president and the government to bypass parliament when drafting new laws and to restrict or suspend rights and freedoms.