The Turkish government under President Erdogan’s orders have seized control of another newspaper in Turkey, in a further blow to free speech and independent media in the country.
The crackdown comes amid widespread censorship of independent press critical of Turkish regime, and comes days after Erdogan’s government seized control of Zaman daily.
The Cihan news agency posted a note on its website late on Monday saying that an Istanbul court would appoint an administrator to run the agency.
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Businessinsider.com reports:
France’s foreign minister said the decision to seize control of Zaman, Turkey’s largest newspaper by circulation, was “unacceptable” and went against European values.
Both Cihan and Zaman are part of the Feza Gazetecilik media company.
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 investigation into Erdogan’s inner circle in 2013.
At the start of March, Turkish authorities shut down media businesses seized last year from Koza Ipek Holding, a conglomerate linked to Gulen.
