Saturday, March 5, 2016

Turkey: Police Take Over Country's Largest Newspaper With Tear Gas, Water Cannons

Just to rant a tiny bit: Either the U.S. or Turkey has to get the hell out of NATO.
Thank you.
From Deutsche-Welle:

Turkish police raid Zaman opposition newspaper using tear gas, water cannon
Türkei Protest & Ausschreitungen Zeitung Zaman - unter staatliche Aufsicht gestellt
Turkish police have raided the premises of opposition newspaper "Zaman," using tear gas and water cannon to break up a protest rally. Court-appointed managers were then escorted into the building.  
Hours after a court placed the "Zaman" newspaper under the management of trustees, police used tear gas and water cannon to raid the country's largest-circulation newspaper. Police then entered the building with court-appointed managers and evicted the newspaper workers.

The court order came as a result of a case brought by a public prosecutor in Istanbul for the editorial board and management to be replaced by people named by the court. "Zaman" Editor-in-Chief Abdulhamid Bilici addressed his colleagues, calling the court decision a "black day for democracy" in Turkey.

Late on Friday, police broke up a protest rally which had gathered outside the newspaper's offices in Istanbul.

"Zaman" is linked to moderate Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen who has lived in the US since 1999. Gulen was placed on trial in absentia last year on charges of attempting to topple the government.
The court order also affects the English-language "Today's Zaman," and a news agency linked to the group. Last October, courts placed four other media organizations owned by a company linked to Gulen, under trusteeship. Their editorial line then became pro-government....MORE