An İstanbul prosecutor referred eight of 12 journalists including Atilla Taş and Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu for arrest on Friday after their testimony as part of a witch-hunt against the Gülen movement.
Twelve journalists who were detained last week were remanded to court after interrogation at the İstanbul Police Department.
Ömer Şahin, Abdullah Alparslan Akkuş, Rasih Yılmaz and Nurullah Öztürk have been released by the prosecutor, while Murat Aksoy, Dinçer Gökçe, Atilla Taş, İskender Yunus Tiryaki, Levent Arap, Ayhan Şimşek, Çulhaoğlu and Mutlu Çölgeçen were referred to court for arrest.
Twelve journalists have been in custody under detention warrants issued for 35 journalists on Aug. 30 for allegedly promoting the Gülen movement in the media and in social media.
Police raided and searched the homes of the journalists on the list on Tuesday.
Journalists Ali Yurttagül, Asım Yıldırım, Ayşe Özkalay, Can Bahadır Yüce, Celil Sağır, Ergun Babahan, Erhan Başyurt, Eyüp Can Sağlık, Faruk Arslan, Hasan Cücük, İbrahim Öztürk, İhsan Yılmaz, Kemal Gülen, Kerim Balcı, Mahmut Akpınar, Osman Özsoy, Önder Deligöz, Savaş Genç, Selçuk Gültaşlı, Şemsettin Efe, Turhan Bozkurt, Yavuz Baydar and Yonca Kaya Şahin are still being sought.
The P24 website says as many as 109 journalists are already behind bars in Turkey.
Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has closed down more than 130 media organizations, including three news agencies, 16 TV stations, 23 radio stations, 46 newspapers, 15 magazines and 29 publishers since the failed military coup of July 15.