Crackdown in Turkey continues as Erdogan shuts down media

The Turkish government continues to take action against soldiers and institutions after this month's failed coup attempt.

Amid a state of emergency, 45 newspapers, 16 television stations and three news agencies have been closed, state-run news agency Anadolu said Wednesday.

Anadolu said nearly 1,700 soldiers, including 149 generals and admirals - have been discharged.

Earlier on Wednesday, the authorities ordered the detention of another 47 journalists - just several days after similar warrants were issued for 42 reporters. Those on the new list were mostly members of the now defunct Zaman newspaper, Turkish officials were quoted as saying by local media.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week said actions were being taken to remove the "threat" raised during the attempt.

The government says US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind the army-led attempted coup - a claim he denies. At least 246 people died during the coup.

More than 2,000 people were injured.

The names of the media organisations have not yet been officially released, but local media suggest that while most are relatively small, provincial outlets, several dailies and agencies with a national audience have also been targeted.

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

Prime minister Binali Yildirim said: “The investigation is continuing – there are people who are being searched for. There could be new apprehensions, arrests and detentions. The process is not completed yet.”

Energy minister Berat Albayrak, who is the son-in-law of president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Turkish authorities had been planning a major purge of the military and other institutions to remove Gülen-linked elements before the coup attempt. His comments suggested that elements of the military launched the coup attempt because they knew they were about to be purged.

“They were going to take really important steps to remove Gülenist officers and generals from the armed forces. We were already working on this,” said Albayrak, who was with Erdoğan on the coup night.

A large-scale shake-up of the Turkish armed forces is expected to be announced when the country’s supreme military council meets on Thursday.

More than 10,000 soldiers and around half of the 358 generals have been detained, leaving gaping holes in the command structure to be filled.