Turkish authorities have reportedly issued arrest warrants for 42 journalists as Ankara continues a large-scale crackdown on anyone believed to have been connected to or sympathized with a recent coup attempt.

Private broadcaster NTV said authorities issued the detention warrants for the journalists, including renowned commentator and former lawmaker Nazli Ilicak, on Monday.

More than 60,000 soldiers, police officers, judges, teachers, civil servants and others have either been suspended from their jobs, arrested or placed under investigation since a faction of the Turkish military attempted but failed to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The measures Ankara has resorted to in the wake of the botched coup have raised domestic and international concern. Government officials have said they would reinstate the death penalty, which was annulled in Turkey in 2004 under reforms aimed at joining the European Union (EU).

Meanwhile, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said that any accession talks with Turkey would be halted if Ankara restored the death penalty.

“I believe that Turkey, in its current state, is not in a position to become a member any time soon and not even over a longer period,” Juncker said on French television France 2 on Monday.

The putsch began overnight on July 15, when rebel soldiers declared they were in control of the country and the Ankara administration was no more in charge. Tanks, helicopters and soldiers then clashed with police and people on the streets of the capital and Istanbul.

The coup was gradually suppressed by military forces and people loyal to Erdogan. More than 300 people were killed from both sides, many of them on July 16.

By Press TV