Around 20 TV and radio stations, including one that plays children's programs, were ordered to be shut down by the Turkish government.
The Committee to Protect Journalists were not happy about it citing that the government is using emergency powers to order the stations closed and stifle the media. Numerous journalists were detained, making Turkey the world's biggest detainer of journalists.
"Turkey is targeting a wide swathe of cultural and political expression by shuttering minority broadcasters. When the government sees even children's programming as a threat to national security, it is clearly abusing its emergency powers." said Robert Mahoney, of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
According to press reports, the TV and radio stations, owned or operated by Kurds or the Alevi religious minority, were accused of spreading "radical propaganda" in opposition to the government, said president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Their shutdown were the result of the measure that are being taken amidst the state of emergency imposed after a failed coup attempt in July so authorities can dispose of the threat posed by the religious minority along with Kurdish rebels.
According to Hamza Aktan, the news editor at IMC TV, one of the stations that is slated for closure, the measure taken by the government was based on the powers given in a decree that was issued last July.
"This has nothing to do with the coup. It is an effort to silence the last independent media covering the Kurdish issue and violations committed by the state," Aktan said.
President Erdoğan has expressed his desire to extend a three month state of emergency after the July coup attempt. He said that the state of emergency is helping the authorities to quickly identify the supporters of the uprising by circumventing parliament to enact laws and suspend rights.
Muslim preacher Fethullah Gülen, who is based in the United States is being accused by the Turkish government for masterminding the coup, 240 soldiers, police and civilians were killed.
Although Gülen thoroughly denies involvement, about 100,000 state employees suspected of being linked to his movement have been absolved and 32,000 people are now incarcerated for their alleged role in the coup including the journalists.
