Istanbul: Zaman protest Saturday dozens teargassed

[Anthea]

BBC News

Turkey police raid critical Zaman newspaper in Istanbul

Turkish police have raided the offices of the opposition Zaman newspaper, hours after a court ruling placed it under state control.

Police entered the building in Istanbul late on Friday, firing tear gas at protesters who had gathered outside.

Zaman is closely linked to the Hizmet movement of influential US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Turkey says Hizmet is a "terrorist" group aiming to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Mr Gulen was once an ally of Mr Erdogan but the two fell out.

Many Hizmet supporters have been arrested.

The government in Ankara has come under increasing international criticism over its treatment of journalists.

'End of democracy'

The court ruled on Friday that Zaman, a high-circulation newspaper, should now be run by administrators. No explanation was given.

Later, hundreds of Zaman supporters gathered outside the newspaper's offices to protest at the state takeover. One held a placard saying, "We will fight for a free press."

Police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the protesters.

The US state department described the takeover as "the latest in a series of troubling judicial and law enforcement actions taken by the Turkish government".

The move against Zaman comes days after Turkey's Constitutional Court ordered the release from detention of two Turkish journalists charged with revealing state secrets.

Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, from the newspaper Cumhuriyet, were detained in November over a report alleging that the Turkish government had tried to ship arms to Islamists in Syria.

The pair still face possible life sentences at their trial on 25 March.

Last year, two newspapers and two television channels were put under state administration over their alleged links with the Hizmet movement.

Freedom of the press in Turkey

Turkey ranks 149th among the 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index 2015
Media organisations in Turkey say that more than 30 journalists are currently behind bars; most are of Kurdish origin
The government argues journalism in Turkey is among the most free in the world

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35730041

[Anthea]

RT

RT reporter teargassed in Istanbul as Zaman ‘take-over’ protest enters 2nd day

Paula Slier, an RT reporter, was caught in tear gas in Istanbul as riot police attempted to disperse a protest at the authorities’ ‘take-over’ of the opposition outlet Zaman.

"Police used very heavy tear gas, it was a peaceful protest," people outside Zaman's offices told Slier following the deployment.

“Last 10 minutes or so we’ve been heavily teargassed, so we ran for cover and ended in a near-by hair salon,” Slier said in her Periscope feed. "People all around are wiping their eyes, some are sitting on the ground trying to recover," she added, showing images from the scene.

“The protest was quite peaceful. Suddenly police advanced and within moments the police started stampeding and throwing tear gas canisters. Everybody started running. I got caught up amongst a women’s group and some of them went to a barber shop, where people are trying to recover, myself included,” she said.

"We were just protesting the situation peacefully, there wasn't any warning from the police when they started heavily using tear gas," a red-eyed man told RT's reporter, adding: "We are not against our nation or our state, but we have the right to protest the illegal seizure of the newspaper."

Friday, a board of trustees was appointed to the media group by a court order.

The board fired the media group’s editor-in-chief, Abdülhamit Bilici, Today’s Zaman, an English-language newspaper, reported on Saturday on its Twitter.

The daily also said that all internet connections have been cut at their headquarters and removal of web content is underway.

Hundreds of people have been rallying outside Zaman's offices since Friday, saying that they would “fight for a free press.”

Overnight, police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the crowds. After clearing their way to the front of the newspaper’s HQ, the officers continued into the building.

The journalists allegedly couldn’t get access to their offices and were forced to hand over their cell phones to the police.

https://www.rt.com/news/334635-istanbul ... test-tear/

[Anthea]

NRT

Thousands protest shutdown of Turkey's largest newspaper

Istanbul offices early on Saturday (March 5).

Scores of people were affected by tear gas as police charged at protesters to disperse the crowd who chanted "Free press cannot be silenced" to denounce the seizure of Zaman newspaper. Police evacuated Zaman's offices after entering the building by forcibly breaking down a gate.

Police in riot gear pushed back Zaman supporters who stood in the rain outside its Istanbul office where they waved Turkish flags and carried placards reading "Hands off my newspaper" before they were overcome by clouds of tear gas, live footage on Zaman's website showed.

Editors of Zaman newspaper denounced the appointment of administrators on Friday (March 4), as Turkish authorities seized control of the country's largest newspaper in a widening crackdown against supporters of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, an influential foe of President Tayyip Erdogan.

Administrators have been appointed to run the Zaman newspaper at the request of an Istanbul prosecutor, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Officials were not immediately available to confirm the reports.

Erdogan accuses Gulen of conspiring to overthrow the government by building a network of supporters in the judiciary, police and media. Gulen denies the charges. The two men were allies until police and prosecutors seen as sympathetic to Gulen opened a corruption probe into Erdogan's inner circle in 2013.

Turkey was going through a 'dark period', said Zaman's editor-in-chief, Abdulhamit Bilici.

"Unfortunately it has been a habit for the last three, four years that anyone who is speaking against the government policies is facing either court cases or prison or such control by the government. And I think this is a dark period for our country, for our democracy. But I don't think that this dark period will continue. It cannot be sustained and it cannot be continued," said Bilici.

The editor-in-chief of Today's Zaman, the English version of the daily paper, Sevgi Akarcesme accused President Erdogan of starting a witch-hunt against his opponents.

"The government has been practicing a wide range of witch-hunt. As President Erdogan once said: 'witch-hunt? If this is called witch-hunt, let it be. We are going to do it.' So he openly declared that they are going to do it and they are, they are executing a wide range of witch-hunt against opponents at the moment," Akarcesme said.

Zaman is Turkey's biggest selling newspaper, with a circulation of 650,000 as of the end of February, according to media-sector monitor MedyaTava website.

Authorities have seized and shut down opposition media outlets associated with the Gulen movement before. The state deposit insurance fund said this week an Islamic bank founded by Gulen followers might be liquidated within months.

Gulen's movement has adherents in the United States, Africa and Asia, where it runs private schools and says it promotes interfaith dialogue.

Earlier on Friday, police detained prominent businessmen over allegations of financing what prosecutors described as a "Gulenist terror group", Anadolu news agency reported.

The crackdown on Zaman comes at an already worrying time for press freedom in Turkey.

Two prominent journalists from the pro-opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper are facing potential life sentences on charges of endangering state security for publishing material that purports to show intelligence officials trucking arms to Syria. Erdogan has accused Gulen of operating a "parallel state structure" bent on toppling him.

Government officials have also accused Gulen's followers of having ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Gulen denies such links and describes the PKK as a terrorist group.

http://www.nrttv.com/EN/Details.aspx?Jimare=5688

[Anthea]

Independent

Turkey warned that seizure of Zaman newspaper 'jeopardises' accession to EU as press freedom crackdown continues

'Fundamental human rights are not negotiable,' the European Enlargement Commissioner said

The head of the authority vetting countries aspiring to join the European Union has said Turkey’s hopes have been “jeopardised” by a crackdown on press freedom.

Government administrators seized control of Zaman, the country’s largest newspaper, on Friday night following a court order and police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the ensuing protests in Istanbul.

Its editor and chief columnist were sacked on Saturday and journalists were told to expect a “change in editorial policy” as access to the website was cut and administrators reportedly started attempts to delete the media group’s news archive.

Johannes Hahn, the European Enlargement Commissioner, wrote on Twitter that human rights are “not negotiable” for prospective EU members.

“Extremely worried about latest developments on Zaman newspaper which jeopardises progress made by Turkey in other areas,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor this case closely. Turkey, as a candidate country, needs to respect freedom of the media.”

Turkey was declared eligible to join the EU in 1997 and started accession negotiations in 2005, but the ongoing dispute over Cyprus and other human rights issues have repeatedly delayed talks.

But the emergence of the refugee crisis and the rise of Isis amid the explosion of conflicts in Syria and Iraq has made Turkey a crucial partner to the EU as a frontline against terrorists and millions of displaced people.

Link to Full Article - Photos:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 14211.html