The raid on Istanbul-based IMC TV, an opposition-affiliated, pro-Kurdish channel, came as the station was reporting on the government's closure of another television channel.

Turkish authorities cut IMC's transmission in the middle of the broadcast.

"Free media will not be silenced," IMC staff chanted as authorities entered the control room, ordering journalists to stop broadcasting scenes from the raid on their social media accounts.

IMC is one of the largest of the 20 television and radio stations ordered off air by Turkish authorities on Friday on the grounds that they broadcast "terrorist propaganda."

The networks were predominantly those affiliated with the country's Kurdish and Alevi minorities. IMC, a Turkish-language station, has previously broadcast reports on the conduct of Turkish security forces in their operations against the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Turkey has been locked in a low-level conflict with the banned Kurdish separatist group for decades, and over the past year has weathered a string of bombings blamed on the group. Employees of IMC TV react to the police raid. Turkey declared a state of emergency in the wake of a failed coup on July 15, and has since pursued a sweeping purge , dismissing more than 81,000 people in various institutions -- including the armed forces, the police, the education system, the media and the judiciary -- who were perceived as opposed to the government. "We weren't only broadcasting about the Kurdish issue, we were a platform for all different voices," said journalist Banu Guven, a presenter on IMC. She accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of using the failed coup as a pretext to crack down on groups he opposed. "The decrees and the state of emergency became an excuse for Erdogan to silence us," Guven said. On Monday, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said the current state of emergency -- which allows the government to rule by decrees without seeking parliamentary approval -- would be extended for three more months. Nearly three months after the coup attempt, more than 12,000 police officers have been suspended for alleged links to the man Ankara accuses of masterminding the coup, Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen , state-run news agency Anadolu reported Tuesday. Turkey: The biggest issue for the next US president? Turkey: The biggest issue for the next US president? Of the 12,801 suspended police officers, 2,523 of them are ranking officers, Anadolu reports. Gulen, a reclusive cleric with a loyal following of supporters in Turkey and around the world, has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999. He has repeatedly denied any involvement in the July 15 uprising, which left 270 people dead, including 24 accused in the plot. Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. , in a move that sparked protests in a number of towns. , in a move that sparked protests in a number of towns. Alleged Gulenists were among 28 mayors dismissed by Turkey's government last month , in a move that sparked protests in a number of towns. Other dismissed mayors included those with alleged links to the banned PKK. Turkey has shut down more than 2,000 institutions linked to Gulen, whose movement has founded hundreds of secular co-ed schools, free tutoring centers, hospitals and relief agencies.</s>ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish authorities suspended nearly 13,000 police officers, detained dozens of air force officers and shut down a TV station on Tuesday, widening a state-ordered clampdown against perceived enemies in the wake of July’s failed coup.

A RTUK official (L) takes notes at the master control room of the IMC TV in Istanbul, Turkey, October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir

The police headquarters said 12,801 officers, including 2,523 chiefs, were suspended because of their suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the attempt to overthrow the government.

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, denies any link to the coup attempt, which led to the deaths of more than 240 people.

The suspensions were ordered hours after Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus announced that the cabinet had approved a 90-day extension to a state of emergency, renewing President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers to govern by decree at least until January.

The emergency extension, which parliamentary is likely to wave through, means Erdogan can take decisions without oversight of the Constitutional Court, Turkey’s highest legal body.

As well as suspending five percent of the entire police force, the authorities detained 33 air force officers in raids across the country, the private Dogan news agency reported, and the transmission of TV station IMC was cut following accusations of spreading “terrorist propaganda”.

State-run Anadolu Agency said 37 people working in the Interior Ministry’s headquarters had also been removed from their posts, although no explanation was given.

Since the July 15 insurrection, Erdogan has taken steps to rid state institutions of staff deemed disloyal or potential enemies. About 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police, judiciary and universities have been sacked or suspended from their jobs, and 32,000 arrested.

The government says its aim is to rid institutions of links to Gulen, whose organization it calls a terrorist network.

One of the police officers suspended on Tuesday, a 26-year-old man, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in a park in the Mediterranean city of Mersin, Dogan reported.

SYRIA OPERATIONS

The relentless crackdown has caused consternation among Turkey’s Western allies and human rights groups, who fear Erdogan is using the unsuccessful coup as a pretext to curtail any dissent, while at the same time intensifying his moves against suspected Kurdish militants and sympathizers.

On Tuesday evening, the armed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) attacked a Turkish military outpost in the predominantly Kurdish southeast, in Diyarbikar province, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, the local governor said.

“An attack has been made by the divisive terrorist organization on military personnel,” the governor’s office said in a statement, using the usual terminology to describe the PKK.

In August, Turkish forces launched an offensive into northern Syria in support of rebels fighting against Islamic State, creating a security corridor along the Turkey-Syria border that also appears designed to push Kurdish militia away.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that the YPG Kurdish militia, which is backed by the United States, was filling a vacuum left by Islamic State and said Turkish forces were prepared to go after Kurdish fighters in the same way.

“We know how to cleanse the PYD/YPG, just as we cleansed Daesh from Jarablus,” he said, referring to Islamic State.

Ankara fears Kurdish militants fighting for greater autonomy in Turkey could benefit from turmoil in the region.

In a further sign of the government’s desire to move rapidly to quell domestic opposition, Yildirim said the judicial process needed to be speeded up, especially when it came to prosecuting those accused of backing the coup.

“One of the main goals is shortening the time it takes to prosecute people,” he said. “We are starting this with the July 15 coup plotters. We are doing this quickly.”

While Turkey cracks down at home and expands its footprint in Syria, it also wants the United States to extradite Gulen so he can be prosecuted on charges that he masterminded the failed insurrection.

Slideshow (2 Images)

On Sunday, Turkish counter-terrorism police detained Gulen’s brother in Izmir, where he was staying at a relative’s house. Several of Gulen’s relatives, including a nephew, niece and cousins, have been arrested since July 15.

Erdogan’s security clampdown may be bolstering his own authority but it has had economic repercussions, with credit ratings agencies downgrading the country’s debt to “junk” and the lira weakening against the dollar.

On Tuesday, Yildirim lowered the growth outlook for 2016, saying the economy was likely to expand 3.2 percent, well below an original 4.5 percent forecast, while inflation for the year is set to hit 7.5 percent.</s>Turkey has suspended almost 13,000 police officers, more than 5 per cent of the country’s entire police force, over suspected links to Fethullah Gulen, a United States-based cleric blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed coup attempt.

Al Jazeera said in a brief statement, the Turkish police headquarters said that 2,523 of the 12,801 suspended were police chiefs.

The officers suspended “have been assessed to have communications or links to the Gulenist Terror Organisation, identified as a threat to national security”, the police statement said.

The government blames the July 15 failed coup bid on Gulen, though he denies the charges.

According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, 37 people working in the interior ministry’s headquarters had also been removed from their posts.</s>Turkish authorities have suspended 12,801 police officers from duty, police headquarters said on Tuesday, over their suspected links with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and his network, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed coup in July.

Of the total removed, 2,523 were police chiefs, the statement said. In a post-coup crackdown, Turkey has already sacked or suspended more than 100,000 civil servants, teachers, judges, prosecutors and others.</s>ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish police say some 12,800 police officers have been suspended from duty over their suspected links to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen's movement, accused by Turkey of masterminding the failed July 15 coup.

In a statement posted on its website Tuesday, the Turkish police headquarters said 2,523 of those suspended were police chiefs.

The move comes a day after the Cabinet extended by a further three months a state of emergency declared after the coup, which has facilitated the government's massive crackdown on Gulen's movement.

Tens of thousands of people have been dismissed or suspended from government jobs including in the military, police, judiciary and the education ministry. Around 32,000 people have been arrested for alleged links to the failed coup.

Gulen has denied involvement in the coup attempt.</s>ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish authorities on Tuesday suspended some 12,800 police officers from duty over their suspected links to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen as Turkey pressed ahead with its vast crackdown on a network it says is behind the country's July 15 failed military coup.

In a brief statement posted on its website, the Turkish police headquarters said those suspended were allegedly "in cohesion with or connected to" Gulen's movement. It said 2,523 of them were police chiefs.

The move comes a day after the Cabinet extended by a further three months a state of emergency declared after the coup, which has facilitated the government's crackdown on Gulen's movement.

Tens of thousands of people have been dismissed or suspended from government jobs including in the military, police, judiciary and the education ministry. Around 32,000 people allegedly connected to the failed takeover attempt have been arrested, including dozens of journalists employed by Gulen-linked news outlets.

Authorities have closed schools, charities, foundations and even medical establishments associated to the movement and also appointed trustees to manage Gulen-linked businesses.

Turkey's main opposition party and human rights groups have accused the government of using emergency powers to clamp down on all dissenting voices — not just the Gulen movement.

The state of emergency has allowed the government to rule through decrees, often bypassing parliament. Last week, authorities closed at least 12 Kurdish television stations for alleged threats to national security, including a station that broadcast children's cartoons in the Kurdish language.

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, has denied involvement in the coup attempt that led to at least 270 deaths.

Turkey, however, wants him returned to stand trial for conspiring to bring down the government and has also requested that he be held in custody until the U.S. courts decide on his extradition to Turkey.</s>Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016. Erdogan hinted on Thursday that the three-month state of emergency declared following the failed July 15 coup could be extended to over a year. Aysenur Bahcekapili, a lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party, stands during his speech.Photo: AP

The Turkish police headquarters has said 2,523 of those suspended were police chiefs.

Turkish police say some 12,800 police officers have been suspended from duty over their suspected links to U.S.—based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen’s movement, accused by Turkey of masterminding the failed July 15 coup.

In a statement posted on its website Tuesday, the Turkish police headquarters said 2,523 of those suspended were police chiefs.

The move comes a day after the Cabinet extended by a further three months a state of emergency declared after the coup, which has facilitated the government’s massive crackdown on Gulen’s movement.

Tens of thousands of people have been dismissed or suspended from government jobs including in the military, police, judiciary and the education ministry. Around 32,000 people have been arrested for alleged links to the failed coup.

Gulen has denied involvement in the coup attempt.</s>The daily Hurriyet reported that Kudbettin Gulen had been abroad recently but that security services learned he had returned to Turkey and he was then detained.

Turkish authorities have detained a brother of Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric they accuse of orchestrating a coup attempt in July, and issued arrest warrants for 115 other people as part of nationwide investigations into the abortive putsch.

Kudbettin Gulen was taken into custody on Sunday by Turkish counter-terrorism police in the Gaziemir district of the Aegean province of Izmir following intelligence that he was staying at a relative's house, state-run Anadolu Agency said.

The daily Hurriyet reported that Kudbettin Gulen had been abroad recently but that security services learned he had returned to Turkey and he was then detained.

Several of Mr. Gulen's relatives, including a nephew, niece and cousins, have been arrested since the July 15 coup.

A chief prosecutor's office in Sakarya province, 150 km east of Istanbul, has opened an investigation into 148 people over their suspected links to Mr. Gulen's movement, Anadolu said. A court issued arrest warrants for 115 of them.

Police carried out simultaneous raids across 27 provinces to detain the suspects, it added.

Turkey has dismissed or suspended more than 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police and judiciary over their alleged role in the attempted coup. Some 32,000 people, including soldiers and journalists, have been arrested.

Ankara wants the United States to detain and extradite Mr. Gulen so that he can be prosecuted in Turkey on a charge that he masterminded the attempt to overthrow the government. Mr. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies any involvement.

The security crackdown has alarmed rights groups and Western allies who fear President Tayyip Erdogan may be using the failed coup as a pretext to curtail all dissent and intensify action against suspected sympathisers of Kurdish militants.</s>Turkish authorities have suspended 12,801 police officers from duty, police headquarters said on Tuesday, over their suspected links with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and his network, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed coup in July.

The move came after the Interior Ministry launched an investigation into the police force, broadcaster CNN Turk reported, and a day after the Turkish government extended a state of emergency for another three months.

Of the total number of police suspended across the country, 2,523 were police chiefs, the statement said. Turkey's total police force numbers about 250,000.

About 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police and judiciary have already been sacked or suspended in a post-coup crackdown, and some 32,000 people have been arrested for their alleged role in the abortive putsch.

President Tayyip Erdogan said last week Turkey would benefit from an extension to the three-month state of emergency declared after the failed July 15 coup, saying more time was needed to hunt down those responsible. He suggested it may last for more than a year.

However, the crackdown has raised concerns from rights groups and Western allies who fear Erdogan is using the failed coup as a pretext to curtail all dissent and to intensify his actions against suspected Kurdish militant sympathisers.

Turkey wants the United States to extradite Gulen and prosecute him on charges that he masterminded the attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies any involvement.</s>Turkish authorities suspended nearly 13,000 police officers, detained dozens of air force officers and shut down a TV station on Tuesday, widening a state-ordered clampdown against perceived enemies in the wake of July’s failed coup.

The police headquarters said 12,801 officers, including 2,523 chiefs, had been suspended because of their suspected links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the attempt to overthrow the government.

Mr Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, denies any link to the putsch which has shaken the country and led to the deaths of more than 240 people.

The suspensions came hours after deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus announced that the cabinet had approved a 90-day extension to a state of emergency, renewing president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s powers to govern by decree at least until January.

The emergency measures, if approved by parliament, mean Mr Erdogan can take decisions without oversight of the constitutional court, Turkey’s highest legal body.

As well as suspending about five per cent of the entire police force, the authorities detained 33 air force officers in raids across the country, the private Dogan news agency reported, and the transmission of TV station IMC was cut following accusations of spreading “terrorist propaganda”.

State-run Anadolu Agency said 37 people working in the interior ministry’s headquarters had also been removed from their posts, although no explanation was given.

Since July 15th, Mr Erdogan has taken unprecedented steps to rid state institutions of staff deemed disloyal or potential enemies. About 100,000 people in the military, civil service, police, judiciary and universities have been sacked or suspended from their jobs, and 32,000 have been arrested.

The government says its aim is to rid institutions of links to Mr Gulen, whose organisation it calls a terrorist network. Mr Gulen, a former ally of Mr Erdogan, denies any involvement in the coup attempt.

One of the police officers suspended on Tuesday, a 26-year-old man, killed himself in a park in the Mediterranean city of Mersin, Dogan reported.

The relentless crackdown has caused consternation among Turkey’s Western allies and human rights groups, who fear Mr Erdogan is using the unsuccessful coup as a pretext to curtail any dissent, while at the same time intensifying his moves against suspected Kurdish militant sympathisers.

In August, Turkish forces launched an offensive into northern Syria in support of rebels fighting against Islamic State, also known as Isis, creating a security corridor along the Turkey-Syria border that also appears designed to push Kurdish militia away.

Prime minister Binali Yildirim warned on Tuesday that the YPG Kurdish militia, which is backed by the US, was filling a vacuum left by Islamic State and said Turkish forces were prepared to go after Kurdish fighters in the same way.

“We know how to cleanse the PYD/YPG, just as we cleansed Daesh from Jarablus,” he said, referring to Islamic State.

Ankara fears Kurdish militants fighting for greater autonomy in Turkey could benefit from turmoil in the region.

In a further sign of the government’s desire to move rapidly to quell domestic opposition, Mr Yildirim said the country’s judicial process needed to be speeded up, especially when it came to prosecuting those accused of backing the coup.

“One of the main goals is shortening the time it takes to prosecute people,” he said at an economic conference. “We are starting this with the July 15th coup plotters. We are doing this quickly.”

While Turkey cracks down at home and expands its footprint in Syria, it also wants the US to extradite Mr Gulen so he can be prosecuted on charges that he masterminded the failed insurrection.

On Sunday, Turkish counter-terrorism police detained Mr Gulen’s brother in Izmir, where he was staying at a relative’s house. Several of Mr Gulen’s relatives, including a nephew, niece and cousins, have been arrested since July 15th.

While Mr Erdogan’s security clampdown may be bolstering his own authority, it has had economic repercussions, with credit ratings agencies downgrading the country’s debt to “junk” and the Turkish lira weakening against the dollar.

On Tuesday, Mr Yildirim lowered the growth outlook for 2016, saying the economy was likely to expand 3.2 per cent, well below an original 4.5 per cent forecast, while inflation for the year is set to hit 7.5 per cent.
Turkish authorities suspend nearly 12,800 police officers from duty over their suspected links with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.