Turkey: Pre-election takeover of opposition media outlets a major bl..
Amnesty International calls on the Turkish authorities to ensure that media outlets that are part of the Koza Ipek group can report freely and independently after government administrators were sent in to replace the senior management of the group yesterday. The raids are yet another shocking
attack on journalists and freedom of expression in Turkey, and come just four days before a crucial parliamentary election on Sunday.
The Koza Ipek group contains outlets that span television, print and online media, including Millet and Buguen newspapers and the Buguen and Kanaltuerk news channels. All are fierce critics of the Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) government. Today's actions come in an environment in
which journalists, human rights defenders, activists and ordinary citizens are routinely prosecuted and brought to trial for peacefully expressing their legitimate opinions.
This afternoon, broadcasts by the Kanaltuerk and Buguen news channels were cut after government administrators entered the building with policemen who forced their way in. Tarik Toros, editor-in-chief of the Kanaltuerk channel, was removed from his duties and taken from the building in
handcuffs by police.
On Monday, an Ankara court granted the prosecutor's request to send in government administrators to replace the senior management of the Koza Ipek group. The order was justified on the grounds of "strong suspicion of [the group] committing crimes". The move follows a September raid on the
headquarters of the Koza Ipek group as part of an ongoing investigation into the financing of terrorism in the context of alleged links between the group and what the government has designated a "Fetullah Guelen terrorist organization".
The rupture between the government and Fetullah Guelen, an influential preacher and former close ally of the government, intensified in December 2013 when the authorities acted to crush a criminal investigation into alleged corruption within the inner circle of then Prime Minister Erdogan. The
government branded the investigation a plot by a "parallel structure" of supporters of Fethullah Guelen in the police and judiciary, and vowed to take further action against him and his network of supporters.
Earlier this week, prosecutors in Istanbul submitted an indictment to the court accusing 122 people, including Fethullah Guelen, of charges including "leading or founding an armed terrorist organisation".
The recent attacks against the Koza Ipek group provide yet another example of the authorities' efforts to silence dissent by harassing and intimidating government critics.