The Turkish government yesterday faced accusations of eroding democracy and press freedoms after more than two dozen people were arrested in raids against media critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The swoop on Sunday chiefly targeted a newspaper and television closely allied to the US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, a onetime close ally of Erdogan who has become his arch enemy.
Gulen lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania and is believed to have many followers and sympathizers in important positions in the Turkish police and judiciary.
Among a total of 27 people arrested in the nationwide raids were Ekrem Dumanli, the editor-in-chief of the Zaman daily, which is closely linked to Gulen and Hidayet Karaca, the head of the pro-Gulen Samanyolu TV.
Turkish television said 24 suspects were still being questioned by Istanbul police yesterday.
The state Anatolia news agency said chief public prosecutor Hadi Salihoglu ordered the arrests on charges of forgery, fabricating evidence and “forming a crime syndicate to overtake the sovereignty of the state.”
Several police officers were also detained, including Tufan Erguder and Mutlu Ekizoglu, former heads respectively of the Istanbul anti-terrorism and organized crime police departments.
In an unusually strong joint statement, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn condemned the raids as “incompatible with the freedom of media.”
“This operation goes against the European values and standards Turkey aspires to be part of and which are the core of reinforced relations,” they said.
US Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington was “closely following” the developments.
“As Turkey’s friend and ally, we urge the Turkish authorities to ensure their actions do not violate these core values and Turkey’s own democratic foundations,” she said.
The Zaman newspaper itself headlined, “Black day for democracy,” in black fonts.
“Zaman will maintain its pro-democracy, pro-freedom and peaceful approach without any fear,” it said, warning that Turkey was being “dragged to a cliff.”
Commentator Abdulkadir Selvi in the pro-government Yeni Safak daily also criticized the arrests.
“I want to put it very clearly that the arrests of Ekrem Dumanli and Hidayet Karaca is wrong. I am objecting to the mistake, whoever made it,” Selvi wrote.
His view contrasted with the newspaper’s headline supporting the crackdown: “Time to give account.”
Hurriyet columnist Ahmet Hakan said raiding newspaper offices and arresting journalists dealt a “heavy blow” to democracy and freedom of expression.
However, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the Sabah daily that the suspects were detained “not because of their journalism activities.”
“The details of the investigation will be clarified during the judicial process,” Davutoglu said.
Karaca was summoned to Istanbul police headquarters on Sunday to testify on allegations that Samanyolu TV had tried to topple Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.
“Here’s the attitude toward an international media group with dozens of television stations, dozens of publications, dozens of radio stations not only at home, but also abroad,” Karaca said in a live broadcast as he left his home for the police headquarters.
“This is a shameful scene, now marked in our country’s history,” he said.
Erdogan, in a speech on Friday, vowed to pursue members of the so-called parallel structure, which he claimed challenged his rule with a corruption inquiry in December last year, as well as in other campaigns.
“We have gone into their lairs and we will go into them again,” Erdogan said in the televised speech in Ankara. “Whoever is beside them and behind them, we will bring down this network and bring it to account.”
Additional reporting by NY Times News Service
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in