Clashes break out in Istanbul after government seizes 22 companies linked to critic of President Erdoğan

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Turkish police have stormed the offices of an opposition media group days before the country’s pivotal election, in a crackdown on companies linked to a US-based cleric and critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Police sprayed water to disperse dozens of people as fights broke out outside the offices of Kanaltürk and Bugun TV in Istanbul.

The media groups are owned by Koza Ipek, which has links to Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. The authorities seized 22 companies owned by Koza Ipek on Tuesday in an investigation of alleged financial irregularities, including whether it funded Gülen. The company denies wrongdoing.

Erdoğan has led a crackdown against once influential followers of Gülen, his former ally, after police and prosecutors seen as sympathetic to the cleric opened a corruption investigation into the president’s inner circle in 2013.

Legal action against other opposition newspapers, including the nationalist Sözcü, was planned for after the vote, said Aydin Ünal, a legislator in the ruling AK party.

“After 1 November, we will hold them accountable. Sözcü newspaper insults us every day,” Ünal, a former Erdoğan adviser, told A Haber channel. “There is a lot of pressure on Turkey. If we say something, the world accuses us of interfering with the press, so we’re not in a comfortable position now, but after 1 November we will settle up with all of them.”

Beset by terror and crisis at home and war abroad, Turks prepare for a fateful choice Read more

Rights groups questioned the move against opposition media outlets so close to an election. “The government’s seizure of Koza Ipek undermines the fairness of the parliamentary elections,” said Robert Herman, of Freedom House. He described the takeover of the media firms as censorship.

A prosecutor is seeking a prison sentence of up to 34 years for Gülen on allegations that he ran a “parallel” structure within state institutions that sought to topple Erdoğan, who has led Turkey, first as prime minister, then president, since 2003.

Gülen has lived in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999.

A number of prominent journalists who worked at Gülen-affiliated newspapers and TV stations are in pre-trial detention on similar charges.