Turkey: Police Raids Opposition Daily HQ, Uses Violence against Protesters
Local Editor
Turkish police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds protesting outside the headquarters of the opposition Zaman newspaper. They moved in to secure the premises following a government decision to take over the management of the media group.
Part of the crowd have taken cover inside of the building, as riot police moved in on protesters. However, after clearing the way through the crowd in front of the newspaper's HQ, the officers pushed their way inside the building.
The raid squad pushed one of the publication's employees down to the hall, according to a tweet written by a Zaman employee.
In further details, Zaman Editor-in-Chief Sevgi Akarcesme said that during the raid she was pushed by police as authorities tried to take her out of the building. "A police officer grabbed my phone forcefully while I was broadcasting on Periscope. I'll sue him when the rule of law is back. Unbelievable!" she tweeted.
The daily also confirmed that police had gone to the management floor in the building, and were preventing editors from entering their offices.
The raid began shortly before midnight after a day of standoffs between police and opposition protesters furious about what they call a government crackdown on the free press.
Relatively, Amnesty International condemned the move to silence the opposition press.
"By lashing out and seeking to rein in critical voices, President Erdogan's government is steamrolling over human rights," said Andrew Gardner from Amnesty International's Turkey.
Even Washington, while reaffirming Turkey's crucial role as a NATO member and US ally in the region, had to admit that the Turkish government's recent actions are not fully consistent with the spirit of "democracy."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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