Turkish Police Clash With Protesters Outside Newspaper Seized by Government
- 8 years ago
Turkish police fired tear gas and plastic pellets on Saturday to disperse some 2,000 protesters gathered outside the country's biggest newspaper after the authorities seized control of it.
Hundreds of the paper's supporters staged a second-day of protests outside the building, now surrounded by police fences.
They chanted "free press cannot be silenced" and "Zaman cannot be silenced" as riot police used shields and tear gas to push the crowd, sending protesters running into side streets for protection.
Some were seen rubbing their faces with pieces of lemon to mitigate the effect of the tear gas, the private Dogan news agency reported.
A number of protesters were hurt, the agency added.
A court on Friday appointed a state administrator to run the flagship Zaman paper and the English-language Today's Zaman, affiliated with a U.S.-based cleric the government accuses of plotting a coup.
The decision was taken at the request of a prosecutor investigating the religious movement on terrorism charges, state media said.
Hundreds of the paper's supporters staged a second-day of protests outside the building, now surrounded by police fences.
They chanted "free press cannot be silenced" and "Zaman cannot be silenced" as riot police used shields and tear gas to push the crowd, sending protesters running into side streets for protection.
Some were seen rubbing their faces with pieces of lemon to mitigate the effect of the tear gas, the private Dogan news agency reported.
A number of protesters were hurt, the agency added.
A court on Friday appointed a state administrator to run the flagship Zaman paper and the English-language Today's Zaman, affiliated with a U.S.-based cleric the government accuses of plotting a coup.
The decision was taken at the request of a prosecutor investigating the religious movement on terrorism charges, state media said.