Turkey orders 47 newspaper journalists, executives detained

The official, declining to be named, said the swoop covers “executives and some staff including columnists”, describing Zaman as the “flagship media organisation” of the movement led by Gülen, a US-based preacher.

Earlier, on Monday Turkish authorities ordered to arrest 42 journalists.

Protesters at the scene of the government raid against Zaman Newspaper. “At this point, the reasoning is that prominent employees of “Zaman” are likely to have intimate knowledge of the Gulen network and as such could benefit the investigation”, an anonymous Turkish official told reporters.

Tens of thousands of people have also lost their jobs in the civil service and education sector.

The crackdown on journalists comes as part of a wider purging of government officials and academic leaders following the failed coup attempt that left almost 300 people dead.

Meanwhile, the Turkish military said 8,651 soldiers took part in the failed attempt to overthrow the government, accounting for about 1.5 percent of the army.

“There is no institution which this structure has not infiltrated”, Erdogan’s son-in-law, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, said in regards to Gulen’s network of followers.

In testimony provided following his detention, Major General Mehmet Disli, the brother of a prominent ruling party lawmaker, strongly denied allegations that he was involved in the coup, saying he had been forced by the plotters to mediate with the chief of the military General Staff on July 15.

On Wednesday, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the US sees “a troubling trend in Turkey where official bodies, law enforcement and judicial, are being used to discourage legitimate political discourse”, reports Reuters.

“Turkey’s president is blackmailing the United States”, he wrote in a New York Times opinion piece. “The temptation to give Mr. Erdogan whatever he wants is understandable”.

Following the failed coup, Turkey has stepped up pressure on the USA to extradite Gulen. “But the United States must resist it.” .