Hundreds of journalists and civilians clashed with police on Wednesday after several news offices were raided in a crack down on media opposition of Turkey's government just days ahead of a general election. Clashes broke out as riot police sprayed water cannon to disperse protestors and journalists as they assembled outside the media headquarters of the Koza Ipek Holding company in Istanbul. Police had entered the headquarters after a court decision on Monday handed administration of the company, which owns two newspapers and the popular television stations Kanal Turk and Bugun TV, to government appointed administrators. The company has links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Islamist cleric and opponent of President Tayyip Erdogan, who stands accused of running a "parallel structure" within state institutions that sought to oust Erdogan. In recent months its flagship station Bugun TV has emerged as a main platform for politicians and commentators critical of Erdogan's government. On Wednesday afternoon, a group of journalists at Bugun TV, who remained holed up in a small studio, continued to broadcast despite the heavy police presence in and outside the building. It remains unclear how long the popular TV channel will be allowed to broadcast. Police occupation of the independent media offices so close to an election has provoked strong condemnation from rights groups, journalists and the EU. Mustafa Edib Yilmez, an editor and columnist at the newspaper Zaman daily, told FRANCE 24 the hostilities reflected a larger attack on press freedom in Turkey. "This is intimidation by the government," he said. "It's a threat that if you continue your anti-government coverage we will come after you too." Associate Professor Koray Caliskan, a political scientist at Istanbul's Bogazici University, said that Wednesday's clashes between police and journalists provide the clearest proof yet of the government's push towards a "full authoritarian dictatorship". "This is a coup d'etat – a civilian coup," Caliskan said. "It's unprecedented and against the constitution of this state for a government to take away newspapers and TV stations from private owners." He said he was appalled to witness journalists trying to wrest a water cannon from police "with their hands – hands that are used to hold pens". Threats to more media However, AK Party lawmaker and former Erdogan adviser, Aydin Unal, said on Tuesday legal action was planned against more opposition newspapers, including the nationalist Sozcu newspaper. "Sozcu newspaper insults us every day," Unal told the A Haber TV 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 Nov. 1 we will settle up with all of them." Robert Herman of the watchdog Freedom House questioned the move against opposition media outlets so close to an election. "The government's seizure of Koza Ipek undermines the fairness of the Nov. 1 parliamentary elections," Herman told Reuters in an e-mailed statement. "Respect for freedom of press is key condition for Turkey's EU bid. Media situation ahead of important elections is very worrisome," Kati Piri, European Parliament's (EP) Turkey Rapporteur, tweeted on Tuesday, denouncing the government's actions. Turkey and the EU Caliskan said he was particularly sceptical of Erdogan's contention for EU membership raised during recent discussions with European leaders over Turkey's role in the migrant crisis. He remains unconvinced of Erdogan's bid to join the EU, describing the government's policies as incompatible with European values, such as freedom of expression. ‘They are destroying the means that carried them to power," he said of the government's clamp down on certain media organisations. "This is not democracy. There is no half democracy, because you cannot have only half freedom of speech in a country." Yilmaz said the government's intolerance of opposition had intensified in the last two years to the degree that journalists had become "enemies of the state". He spoke of a former editor in chief at the Zaman daily who was detained in December 2014 and how only a few weeks ago another editor of the Zaman daily was released after five days in jail. Other journalists from Gulen-affiliated newspapers are in pre-trial detention accused of trying to topple Erdogan. Meanwhile, Gulen, who left Turkey in 1999, continues to live in exile in the United States. "Anything has become possible in Turkey," Yilmaz said. "Many things that we thought were previously not possible are happening before our eyes." "We've been demonised; accused of being spies and puppets. There only remains the threat of terrorist allegations against us both personally as journalists and as media institutions."
