Doug Stanglin

USATODAY

Turkey ordered the shutdown Wednesday of scores of media outlets, including three news agencies, 16 television channels and 45 newspapers, the state-run Andalou news agency reported.

The moves represent a further tightening of government control in the country following a failed military coup July 14.

The state also formally discharged around 1,700 officers from the military and brought the Turkish Coast Guard under the control of the Interior Ministry.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has alleged that Fethullah Gülen, a Muslim cleric based in the U.S., was behind the abortive uprising by a faction within the military that led to some 290 deaths.

The government has used the crackdown to purge tens of thousands of people from state institutions and to detain thousands more.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders condemned Turkey’s purges of journalists, saying they have assumed “increasingly alarming proportions.”

“We regret having to reiterate that criticizing the government and working for media outlets that support the Gülen Movement do not constitute evidence of involvement in the failed coup," said Johann Bihr, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. "If the authorities cannot produce more credible evidence, they are guilty of persecuting people for their opinions and that is unacceptable.”

Turkey’s Justice Ministry denied an Amnesty International report alleging some of those detained were tortured. Proper arrest and custody procedures were being applied under a three-month state of emergency announced last week, the department said, according to the Associated Press.