Turkish Police Fire Tear Gas To Seize Newspaper

Turkish police have raided the premises of the country’s largest newspaper, staunchly opposed to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to impose a court order placing it under state control.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters who had gathered outside the Zaman paper’s Istanbul headquarters before breaking down a gate and storming the building.

The court action was brought by a public prosecutor and comes amid an intensified government campaign against the moderate Islamic movement led by the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

New managers will be appointed to run the newspaper, who will be expected to transform its editorial line.

Zaman’s ousted editor-in-chief Abdulhamit Bilici called the court decision a “black day for democracy” in Turkey.

The move has sparked international outrage.

Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, said: “I see this as an extremely serious interference with media freedom which should have no place in a democratic society.

“It is the latest in a string of unacceptable and undue restrictions of media freedom in Turkey.”

Reporters Without Borders accused President Erdogan of “moving from authoritarianism to all-out despotism”.

Mr Gulen, who has lived in the US since 1999, was once Mr Erdogan’s ally but the two fell out.

The government accuses the Gulen movement of orchestrating corruption allegations in December 2013 against ministers and people close to Mr Erdogan as a plot to overthrow it.

Authorities have since branded the movement a terrorist organisation, although it is not known to have carried out acts of violence.

Mr Gulen was placed on trial in absentia last year on charges of attempting to topple the government.

Sky News