The clashes left 270 people dead.- AFP "Authorities have also ordered the closure of a total of 131 newspapers, TV channels and other media outlets under the three-month state of emergency declared in the wake of the coup.Erdogan, who has dominated the country for 13 years, survived the coup thanks to his supporters who took to the streets to counter rebel troops in tanks and warplanes. Efforts were continuing to detain former chairman Haci Boydak as well as Ilyas and Bekir Boydak, for whom warrants have also been issued.Mustafa Boydak is also the head of the chamber of commerce in Kayseri, a fast-growing city dubbed one of the "Anatolian Tigers" for the growth and prosperity it has enjoyed under Erdogan’s rule.Family-owned holding companies form the backbone of the corporate economy in Turkey, and Boydak Holding has interests in furniture, energy and finance. "When we weed them (pro-Gulenist elements) out, our army will first of all be more dynamic, cleaner and more effective," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, dismissing concerns that the forces would be weakened.Meanwhile the probe into coup plotters shifted focus to the financing of Gulen’s activities in Turkey, with what appeared to be the first major arrests targeting the business world.Security forces in the central city of Kayseri detained the chairman of the family-owned Boydak Holding company, Mustafa Boydak, and two other top executives, state-run Anadolu news agency said.He and the two other executives -- Sukru and Halit Boydak -- were detained at their homes. Twenty-one journalists also appeared in an Istanbul court after being rounded up in the sweeping purge, which has seen almost 16,000 people detained since the failed July 15 putsch.Turkish authorities blame Gulen for the rebellion, which aimed to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and they are now seeking to erase the reclusive cleric’s influence from all aspects of Turkish life.But the scale of the crackdown has sparked international alarm, with the EU enlargement commissioner implicitly warning the bloc would freeze Turkey’s accession talks if it violated the rule of law.Johannes Hahn said he needed to see "black-and-white facts about how these people are treated".

Source: The Nation Bangkok July 29, 2016 11:48 UTC