ISTANBUL, (Reuters) – Turkish authorities seized control of the country’s largest newspaper yesterday in a widening crackdown against supporters of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, an influential foe of President Tayyip Erdogan.
Police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse a few thousand supporters who gathered outside Zaman newspaper’s offices and chanted, “Free press cannot be silenced.” Rights groups and European officials criticised the confiscation of Zaman and its sister publication, the English-language Today’s Zaman, which occurred on the eve of a summit between Turkey and the European Union and as concerns mount that the Turkish government is stifling critical media.
Administrators were appointed to run Zaman 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.
