ANKARA, July 30. /TASS/. The Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul sanctioned arrests of 17 journalists suspected of strong connections with opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is believed by the authorities to be behind the recently thwarted state coup, Anadolu news agency reported.

According to the agency, four of the 17 arrested journalists had been already released from custody.

A group of insurgents attempted to stage a coup in Turkey overnight on July 16. The capital Ankara and the country's largest city, Istanbul, turned into the main scenes of the standoff. The Turkish government announced on July 17 that the coup had been suppressed.

The Turkish authorities declared a three-month state of emergency on July 21 to neutralize the threats posed by putschists. The latest reports indicate the violent events claimed 246 lives, while over 2,000 were injured.