Men run and cover their faces as Turkish anti-riot police officers use tear gas to disperse supporters in front of the headquarters of the Turkish daily newspaper Zaman in Istanbul on March 5, 2016, after Turkish authorities seized the headquarters in a midnight raid. (AFP/OZAN KOSE)
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkish riot police on Saturday fired plastic bullets and tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who gathered outside a leading opposition newspaper the day after it was seized by authorities in a violent raid.
“Free press cannot be silenced,” the protesters shouted.
Police used large amounts of tear gas, water cannon and plastic bullets to disperse the crowd of around 500 protesters outside the Istanbul premises of Zaman daily, an AFP photographer at the scene reported.
Zaman, closely linked to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s arch-foe the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, was ordered into administration by the court on the request of Istanbul prosecutors.
Police also fired tear gas and water cannons late Friday to move away a hundreds-strong crowd that had formed outside the newspaper offices, following the court order placing the media business under administration.
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Turkish police officers escort Abdulhamit Bilici (C), editor in chief of Zaman, out of the newspaper’s Istanbul headquarters on March 5, 2016. (AFP/SELAHATTIN SEVI)
On Saturday, a crowd of protesters gathered outside the building, holding the latest edition of the newspaper in a show of solidarity while the newspaper’s employees entered the building under police scrutiny.
The court order was aroused the concern of the United States and the European Union ahead of a crucial summit in Brussels between the EU and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday.
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