Turkey’s declaration of State of Emergency has claimed the jobs of at least 2,308 media workers, according to a recent report prepared by DİSK Basın İş union.
Government decrees issued since the declaration of the State of Emergency have resulted in closure of 131 companies in the media sector over their alleged links to the July 15 coup attempt.
The number of registered workers in the media sector decreased by 2,305 comparing to the same figure before the State of Emergency, the report said.
Those who lost their jobs make up 2.4 of whole media workers in Turkey.
The report said the loss of jobs seems more prevalent in unregistered workers amid State of Emergency.
Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 which killed some 240 people and wounded a thousand others. While the government accuses the faith-based Gulen Movement of masterminding the putsch, the movement has repeatedly repudiated such claims, condemning any intervention into democratically-elected administrations.
The government closed down most of the abovementioned media outlets over their alleged links to the movement.
Accusations against the movement are nothing new. On March 4, Turkish government seized the country’s most highly selling newspaper Zaman over its links to the movement, as well.
More than 80,000 people have been purged from within public institutions while over 40,000 people have been detained over alleged links to the movement since July 15. Meanwhile, some 20,000 people were arrested, backing up claims that the government taps into the attempt in order to lock down dissidents.
About 75 journalists are currently held under custody with most of them detained over alleged terror charges. (TurkeyPurge)