Turkish police use teargas as court appoints trustees to run Feza Media Group which includes TV news agency, CHA

Istanbul, March 2016:  (Source: CHA) Police raided the headquarters of the Zaman daily and used pepper gas against thousands of readers after an İstanbul court appointed trustees to take over the management of the Feza Media Group, which includes Turkey’s biggest-selling newspaper, the Zaman daily, as well as the Today’s Zaman daily and the Cihan news agency, dealing a fresh blow to the already battered media freedom in Turkey.

Police use teargas in Istanbul after court appoint trustees to run Feza Media Group
Zaman employees waiting near the entrance said police immediately tear-gassed readers to disperse them without even delivering the court decision.

The decision was issued by the İstanbul 6th Criminal Court of Peace at the request of the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, which claimed that the media group acted upon orders from what it called the “Fethullahist Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure (FETÖ/PDY),” praising the group and helping it achieve its goals in its publications.

The prosecutor also claimed that the alleged terrorist group is cooperating with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization to topple the Turkish government and that high-level officials of the two groups have had meetings abroad.

The court decision means that the entire management and the editorial board of Feza Media Group companies will be replaced by the three-member board named by the court.

(Source: Cihan news agency)
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