12 September 2016
The Turkish police has detained, since early Saturday, Ahmet Altan, prominent Turkish journalist and author, editor-in-chief of Taraf, a daily newspaper, until 2012, and his brother, Mehmet Altan, a distinguished academic, economic and writer. They were detained with the allegations of spreading “subliminal messages announcing a military coup” in a TV interview on 14th of July, the day before the failed coup. Both Taraf, the newspaper, and the channel – Can Erzincan TV – that aired the interview hosted by Mehmet Altan, have been shut down by the Turkish authorities since the botched putsch for having close links with the network of Fethullah Gülen. Also Nazlı Ilıcak, a well-known journalist, that participated in the programme was arrested on terrorism charges on 29 July.