Accessibility links

Breaking News

Watchdog

A man lies on the pavement after Turkish antiriot police officers fired tear gas to disperse supporters in front of the headquarters of the Turkish daily newspaper Zaman in Istanbul on March 5.
A man lies on the pavement after Turkish antiriot police officers fired tear gas to disperse supporters in front of the headquarters of the Turkish daily newspaper Zaman in Istanbul on March 5.

Police in Istanbul used tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of demonstrators protesting the forceful takeover of Turkey's largest newspaper.

The Zaman newspaper reopened earlier on March 5 amid a heavy police presence, hours after police raided the building to enforce a court-ordered seizure.

Footage shows police firing tear gas and water cannons and forcibly breaking a gate to enter the offices overnight.

The Cihan news agency and the Today's Zaman English-language daily, which are part of the Feza Publications group that owns Zaman, are also affected by the court order placing Zaman under state control.

The newspaper is closely linked with U.S.-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most influential foe.

Erdogan has accused Gulen of conspiring to overthrow the government by building a network of supporters in the judiciary, police, and media. Gulen's movement has also been branded a terrorist organization, although it is not known to have carried out any acts of violence.

A court on March 4 appointed a state administrator to run Zaman and its sister outlets. State media say the decision was taken at the request of a prosecutor investigating the Gulen's movement on terrorism charges.

Zaman's seizure further reduces the number of independent media organizations in Turkey, which is dominated by pro-government news outlets.

The March 5 edition of Today's Zaman, published before the raid, printed its entire front page in black with the headline: "Shameful Day For Free Press In Turkey."

The swoop sparked concern in Washington and Brussels amid deepening worries over freedom of expression in Turkey.

State Department spokesman John Kirby condemned the takeover as "the latest in a series of troubling judicial and law enforcement actions taken by the Turkish government targeting media outlets and others critical of it."

EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said he was "extremely worried" about the move, which he said "jeopardizes progress" made by Ankara in other areas.

The takeover comes just days before a March 7 meeting during which EU leaders will try to convince Turkey to do more to curtail the flow of migrants traveling to Europe and take back thousands who do not qualify for asylum.

Some international rights advocacy groups have accused the European Union of muting its response to Zaman's seizure, and more generally to deteriorating freedoms in Turkey, due to the country's crucial role in the migrant crisis.

Daniel Calingaert, executive vice president of the U.S.-based watchdog Freedom House, said Washington and Brussels "should not trade Turkey's support on migration and Syria for silence over the dismantling of democratic institutions."

The European Federation of Journalists called on the European Union not to "remain silent to the political seizure of Zaman newspaper."

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and dpa

ASTANA -- Beijing has handed over to Kazakhstan four Kazakh citizens who were convicted in China on charges of drug trafficking and murder.

Kazakhstan's Prosecutor-General told RFE/RL on March 4 that the Kazakh citizens will serve their prison terms in Kazakhstan.

The convicts' identities and prison terms were not provided.

The office representatives said though that 22-year-old Kazakh woman Aqzharqyn Turlybaeva, who was arrested in China in March 2014 and sentenced to life in prison for illegal drug trafficking, was not among the convicts handed over to Astana.

A Kazakh-Chinese agreement on exchanging citizens sentenced to prison terms was signed in 2011 and ratified by Kazakhstan in November 2013 and by China in July 2015.

Since January 2015, Chinese authorities have executed a Tajik citizen Hasan Yusufov and Kyrgyz national Svetlana Kulbaeva, who had been convicted of drug trafficking.

Load more

About This Blog

"Watchdog" is a blog with a singular mission -- to monitor the latest developments concerning human rights, civil society, and press freedom. We'll pay particular attention to reports concerning countries in RFE/RL's broadcast region.

Subscribe

Latest Posts

Journalists In Trouble

RFE/RL journalists take risks, face threats, and make sacrifices every day in an effort to gather the news. Our "Journalists In Trouble" page recognizes their courage and conviction, and documents the high price that many have paid simply for doing their jobs. More

XS
SM
MD
LG