Turkey issues warrants for 42 journalists
Press suspected of links to alleged coup organizers
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey on Monday issued warrants for the detention of 42 journalists suspected of links to the alleged organizers of a failed military uprising, intensifying concerns that a sweeping crackdown on alleged coup plotters could target media for any news coverage critical of the government.
While the Turkish government said it is investigating the journalists for possible criminal conduct rather than their reporting, critics warned that a state of emergency imposed after the July 15 coup attempt poses a threat to freedom of expression.
“We fear there will be a witch hunt, which would include journalists known as ‘critical’ against the government. Because they are putting all journalists into one bag,” said Ahmet Abakay, president of the Progressive Journalists’ Association, a media group based in the Turkish capital Ankara.
“By rounding up journalists, the government is failing to make a distinction between criminal acts and legitimate criticism,” said Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Europe.
More than 13,000 people in the military, judiciary and other institutions have been detained since the uprising, which killed about 290 people. In the latest purge, Turkish Airlines, the national carrier, said it has fired 221 employees. It said the contracts were ended for problems including conduct contrary to the national interest, such as “sponsoring” the movement of Fethullah Gulen, a cleric accused by Turkey of fomenting the attempt.
Those fired included seven people in managerial positions and 15 pilots, according to the private news agency Dogan.
Also Monday, security forces caught seven fugitive soldiers accused of raiding a hotel in the resort town of Marmaris shortly after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan left it on the night of July 15, bringing the number of those detained for the attack to 25, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Security forces were searching for 10 others believed to be on the run near Marmaris.
The magazine often has lampooned the government. Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan, has also been a target of its satire.
The magazine’s editor, Zafer Aknar, says he’s concerned about the future.
“Who is going to protect us? There is no judiciary, there is no independence,” he told The Associated Press on Monday.