{
  "id": 65,
  "slug": "2016-turkey-post-coup-media-closures",
  "title": "Turkey closes more than 100 media outlets by decree after a failed coup attempt",
  "occurred_on": "2016-07-27",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "TR",
  "country": "TR",
  "continent": "asia",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
  "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan",
  "issue_of_the_day": "The failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt against President Erdogan's government and the mass arrests and dismissals that followed against alleged participants and sympathizers.",
  "outcome": "sustained",
  "outcome_on": "2016-12-31",
  "outcome_note": "Most closures were not reversed by the decrees themselves; Human Rights Watch documented that the closures reached opposition and Kurdish-audience outlets beyond any shown Gulen movement link.",
  "granularity": "anchor",
  "era": "2010s",
  "summary": "After a failed July 2016 coup attempt, Turkey's government closed more than 100 newspapers, television and radio stations, news agencies and publishing houses by state-of-emergency decree, citing alleged links to the movement it blamed for the coup.{c:242}{c:243}{c:244}{c:245}",
  "what_happened": "On July 15, 2016, a faction of Turkey's military attempted to seize power; the government put down the attempt within hours. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government declared a state of emergency on July 21, giving it power to rule by decree, an executive order with the force of law that bypasses ordinary parliamentary debate. Decree No. 668, issued July 27, 2016, closed 131 media outlets, including 45 newspapers, 16 television channels, three news agencies, 23 radio stations, 15 magazines and 29 publishing houses, all accused of having \"links to a terrorist organization\" and posing \"a threat to national security.\" The government said the outlets had ties to the movement of the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom it accused of directing the coup attempt. Further decrees followed, including a September 28 order closing stations popular among Kurdish and Alevi audiences and opposition supporters; by December 2016, 140 outlets and 29 publishers had been shut. Human Rights Watch said the closures extended well beyond outlets with any documented Gulen movement connection.{c:242}{c:243}{c:244}{c:245}",
  "stated_justification": "The government said the closed outlets had \"links to a terrorist organization\" and posed \"a threat to national security,\" tying them to the movement of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom it accused of directing the coup attempt.{c:243}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "More than 100 newspapers, broadcasters, news agencies and publishing houses lost their operating licenses at a stroke, and Reporters Without Borders said the decrees eliminated \"an entire swathe\" of Turkey's media in one action.{c:244}",
  "unknowns": null,
  "status": "historical",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-22T23:08:24Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 5,
  "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:08:19Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T00:10:53Z",
  "stage": "silence",
  "ladder_note": null,
  "country_name": "Türkiye",
  "tactics": [
    "outlet_licensing"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan",
    "name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/recep-tayyip-erdogan"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2016-turkey-post-coup-media-closures",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-22T23:08:24Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "historical",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": null
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan",
      "name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "ordered",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/recep-tayyip-erdogan"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 242,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 65,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "102 outlets closed by decree",
      "statement": "A single decree closed dozens of newspapers, television channels, radio stations, news agencies and magazines.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 217,
      "evidence_quote": "45 newspapers, 16 TV channels, 23 radio stations, three news agencies and 15 magazines",
      "evidence_date": "2016-10-29",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:08:19Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 217,
        "url": "https://rsf.org/en/turkey-latest-escalation-102-media-outlets-closed-decree",
        "final_url": "https://rsf.org/en/turkey-latest-escalation-102-media-outlets-closed-decree",
        "title": "Turkey: in latest escalation, 102 media outlets closed by decree",
        "publisher": "Reporters Without Borders (RSF)",
        "published_on": "2016-10-29",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/242"
    },
    {
      "id": 243,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 65,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Outlets accused of Gulen movement ties",
      "statement": "The government accused the closed outlets of collaborating with the movement it blamed for the coup attempt.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 217,
      "evidence_quote": "suspected of 'collaborating' with the movement headed by the US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, which the authorities say was responsible for the 15 July abortive coup.",
      "evidence_date": "2016-10-29",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:08:20Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 217,
        "url": "https://rsf.org/en/turkey-latest-escalation-102-media-outlets-closed-decree",
        "final_url": "https://rsf.org/en/turkey-latest-escalation-102-media-outlets-closed-decree",
        "title": "Turkey: in latest escalation, 102 media outlets closed by decree",
        "publisher": "Reporters Without Borders (RSF)",
        "published_on": "2016-10-29",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/243"
    },
    {
      "id": 244,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 65,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "RSF says an entire swathe of media eliminated",
      "statement": "RSF said the closures eliminated an entire section of Turkey's media in a single action.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 217,
      "evidence_quote": "The authorities have eliminated an entire swathe of the media landscape in one fell swoop. The irreparable damage they are inflicting on pluralism and the rule of law goes far beyond the state of emergency.",
      "evidence_date": "2016-10-29",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:08:21Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 217,
        "url": "https://rsf.org/en/turkey-latest-escalation-102-media-outlets-closed-decree",
        "final_url": "https://rsf.org/en/turkey-latest-escalation-102-media-outlets-closed-decree",
        "title": "Turkey: in latest escalation, 102 media outlets closed by decree",
        "publisher": "Reporters Without Borders (RSF)",
        "published_on": "2016-10-29",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/244"
    },
    {
      "id": 245,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 65,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "131 outlets named in the first major decree",
      "statement": "The first major post-coup decree named 131 media outlets for closure.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 218,
      "evidence_quote": "131 media outlets, including 45 newspapers, 16 TV channels, three news agencies, 23 radio stations, 15 magazines and 29 publishing houses",
      "evidence_date": "2016-12-15",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:08:22Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 218,
        "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/12/15/silencing-turkeys-media/governments-deepening-assault-critical-journalism",
        "final_url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/12/15/silencing-turkeys-media/governments-deepening-assault-critical-journalism",
        "title": "Silencing Turkey's Media",
        "publisher": "Human Rights Watch",
        "published_on": "2016-12-15",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/245"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 217,
      "url": "https://rsf.org/en/turkey-latest-escalation-102-media-outlets-closed-decree",
      "final_url": "https://rsf.org/en/turkey-latest-escalation-102-media-outlets-closed-decree",
      "title": "Turkey: in latest escalation, 102 media outlets closed by decree",
      "publisher": "Reporters Without Borders (RSF)",
      "published_on": "2016-10-29",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 218,
      "url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/12/15/silencing-turkeys-media/governments-deepening-assault-critical-journalism",
      "final_url": "https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/12/15/silencing-turkeys-media/governments-deepening-assault-critical-journalism",
      "title": "Silencing Turkey's Media",
      "publisher": "Human Rights Watch",
      "published_on": "2016-12-15",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2016-turkey-post-coup-media-closures/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Turkey closes more than 100 media outlets by decree after a failed coup attempt. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2016-turkey-post-coup-media-closures. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}