Turkey Shuts News Outlets, Tightens Anti-Terrorism Law |
Turkey shut more than a dozen news outlets and tightened its anti-terrorism laws in an expansion of its crackdown following the botched July 15 coup.
The government also fired more than 10,000 additional people from jobs in the education, health and justice ministries as part of its effort to purge the civil service of employees with alleged links to the U.S.-based preacher it accuses of masterminding the takeover attempt.
A total of 10 newspapers, two news agencies and three magazines were closed, most centered in the Kurdish-dominated southeast, according to a decree published Saturday in the Official Gazette. Turkish prosecutors will now be able to record conversations between people convicted of terrorism and their lawyers, seize the audio tapes and limit attorney-client communication in terrorism cases, according to a separate decree.
The latest round of civil service dismissals brings to more than 100,000 the number of people suspended or removed from jobs in the security services, judiciary, Finance Ministry and schools since the coup attempt.
The government granted itself emergency powers after the takeover attempt by factions in the military. It blames the botched coup on followers of U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who denies any involvement.
The latest decrees also abolished the right of Turkish universities to choose their own rectors. Turkey’s president will choose rectors from among three candidates proposed by the country’s supreme education council.
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