Turkey coup attempt: More than 130 media outlets shut

THE Turkish authorities have announced the closure of 131 media organisations, as a crackdown continues following the failed coup on 15 July.
Three news agencies, 16 TV channels, 23 radio stations, 45 papers, 15 magazines and 29 publishers will be shut, BBC said.
One of them, Zaman, once one of Turkey’s biggest newspapers, was put under state control in March. Arrest warrants have been issued for 47 staff.
Many of the media outlets are linked to the US-based cleric Fetullah Gulen
The government says Mr Gulen was behind the army-led attempted coup, a claim he denies.
Separately, the government announced on Wednesday that nearly 1,700 members of the armed forces, including 149 generals and admirals had been discharged.
At least 246 people died during the coup, and more than 2,000 people were injured.
Both the closure of the media outlets and the soldiers’ dismissal were announced in Turkey’s official Resmi Gazete.
While most are relatively small provincial outlets, several with a national audience have also been targeted.
Zaman’s readers were mostly Gulen supporters, who stopped reading it after the state takeover in March, rendering it unprofitable.
In addition to the warrants issued for the 47 Zaman staff, authorities had sought the arrest of 42 other journalists earlier in the week.