Turkish authorities today issued detention warrants against 35 people, including nine journalists, on suspicion of links to last July’s attempted military coup.
According to the state-run Anadolu news agency the suspects, including the editor of the opposition Birgun newspaper Burak Ekici, were accused of “membership of an armed terrorist organisation”.
The on-going crackdown, particularly against journalists, has alarmed rights groups and some of Turkey’s Western allies, who fear the government is using the coup as a pretext to quash dissent.
Some 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from jobs in the civil service and private sector and more than 50,000 have been detained for alleged links to the putsch.
Some 150 media outlets have also been shut down and around 160 journalists are in jail, according to the Turkish Journalists’ Association.
The government, however, says the measures are necessary due to the gravity of the threats it faces.
