Prospects for the survival of democracy in Turkey keep dwindling with the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan now issuing arrest warrants for 42 journalists.

It’s the latest insult to liberty in what had been the only stable, responsible democracy in the Middle East.

Journalists caught in this fresh media crackdown join thousands of people from the military, judiciary, bureaucracy, education system and other Turkish institutions detained in the aftermath of a failed coup. It has become painfully clear that Erdogan’s goal is nothing less than the undermining of the Turkish democratic state in favour of autocratic one-man rule.

The post-coup witch-hunt he has instituted has resulted in the closing of universities, charities, schools, hospitals, and union offices across the country. More than 50,000 government workers have been suspended or dismissed, with state-run Turkish Airlines firing an additional 100 people just over the weekend.

The excuse is that these people were all tied in some way to efforts aimed at overthrowing the government, mostly in connection with a vast conspiracy supposedly headed by Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who has taken refuge in Pennsylvania. Erdogan claims Gulen and his followers are at the root of the failed military coup.

It is, frankly, absurd to link so many people — tens of thousands, young and old, from almost every level of society — to the amateurish and hopelessly bungled plot that unfolded on July 15.

Rather than participating in this putsch, journalists have, on the whole, advocated for the rule of law and the preservation of Turkey’s elected government. And rightly so.

“Press freedom is an essential component of democracy,” said Philippe Leruth, head of the International Federation of Journalists, warning this vital right is being severely undermined in Turkey.

Free speech was under considerable pressure even before the attempted coup, with the government cracking down on opposition newspapers, punishing critical TV stations, and attempting to rein in social media. But the latest arrest warrants, issued for some of the country’s most respected journalists, represent a dangerous new low.

The real plot to subvert the Turkish republic — the only one that seems to be succeeding — is Erdogan’s own assault on the country’s democracy. His criminalizing of journalistic work is an integral component of that unprincipled attack.

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