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Posted: 2014-12-14 22:47:00
Show of supporter: Colleagues and supporters of <i>Zaman</i> newspaper surround editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanli as he is arrested.

Show of supporter: Colleagues and supporters of Zaman newspaper surround editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanli as he is arrested. Photo: AFP

Istanbul: Turkish police have detained at least 24 police officers and media workers in raids, days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signalled a new campaign against supporters of an influential Muslim cleric whom he has accused of attempting to overthrow his government.

Eight other people were on a list of suspects accused of "using pressure, intimidation, threats", a "smear campaign" and "fabrication of evidence" to claim powers of state as members of an illegal organisation, the semi-official press agency Anadolu reported. Mr Erdogan has said they are part of a parallel structure within the state that is intended by cleric Fethullah Gulen to oust him from power.

Cracking down: "We have gone into their lairs, and we will go into them again": President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Cracking down: "We have gone into their lairs, and we will go into them again": President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: AP

Some  journalists were also charged with "fabricating charges and evidence"  to support a 2009 investigation, eventually dropped by prosecutors, that accused a group of people of being radical Islamists.

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Mr Gulen lives in self-imposed exile in the United States and is believed to have many followers and sympathisers in important positions in the Turkish police and judiciary.

On Sunday, the producer and director of a television show were detained, and the scriptwriter of another series was taken into custody, according to Anadolu. All three work for Samanyolu Broadcasting Group, which is affiliated with Mr Gulen.

Influential: Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen is accused of trying to overthrow Turkey's government.

Influential: Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen is accused of trying to overthrow Turkey's government. Photo: AP

In Istanbul, security officials arrived at the headquarters of Zaman, a pro-Gulen newspaper, to arrest the editor-in-chief. They left, however, after lawyers for the newspaper pointed out missing signatures on the warrant, but later returned to make the arrest. Television reports showed dozens of newspaper workers holding banners in support of press freedom and chanting, "Free press cannot be silenced", as the police initially entered the packed building.

Hidayet Karaca, the president of Samanyolu, was summoned to the Istanbul police headquarters to testify on allegations that the media organisation and Mr Gulen had tried to topple Mr Erdogan's pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party. Mr Karaca was later detained.

"Here's the attitude toward an international media group with dozens of television stations, dozens of publications, dozens of radio stations not only at home, but also abroad," Mr Karaca said in a live broadcast as he left his home for the police headquarters. "This is a shameful scene, now marked in our country's history," he added.

The European Union was quick to condemn the raids, saying in an unusually strongly worded statement they were incompatible with media freedom and ran counter to European values.

Mr Erdogan, in a speech on Friday, vowed to pursue members of the so-called parallel structure, which he claimed challenged his rule with a corruption inquiry last December, as well as in other campaigns.

"We have gone into their lairs, and we will go into them again," Mr Erdogan said in Ankara, the capital. "Whoever is beside them and behind them, we will bring down this network and bring it to account."

The corruption investigation last year implicated many of those close to Mr Erdogan, who at the time was prime minister. The inquiry also led to the resignation of three ministers and was regarded as the biggest threat to Mr Erdogan's rule after more than a decade in power. Mr Gulen, who was a close ally of Mr Erdogan's for years before their falling out, denied having any role in the investigation.

A day before Mr Erdogan's speech, a widely followed whistle-blower on Twitter said the police were planning to round up about 400 people, including at least 150 journalists known to support Mr Gulen.

While the raids were more limited than the warning suggested, the detentions on Sunday still drew more than 1000 demonstrators outside Zaman's headquarters to protest against media repression.

"This is a reckless move toward dictatorship," Cengiz Candar, a journalist, wrote in his Twitter account. "It is nothing else than a rough attack against media freedoms with the pretext of a 'community operation'."

The group Human Rights Watch pointed out the need to clarify the charges against the journalists.

"The detention of journalists and editors in the context of this latest, wider operation of arrests looks like another attempt to crack down on critical media," said Emma Sinclair-Webb, a senior Turkey researcher with Human Rights Watch.

In recent years, dozens of journalists have been investigated, have been charged and have lost their jobs because of their critical coverage of the government.

"Defining all of this within the pretext of a struggle between the government" and Mr Gulen and his supporters was misleading, Ekrem Dumanli, Zaman's editor-in-chief, said in a phone interview.

Dumanli, shortly before he was detained on Sunday, said: "The government continues to put pressure on any critical group of writers or publications left in the Turkish media."

News television cameras showed Dumanli leaving with a group of police officers and saying: "You fear if you are guilty. We do not fear."

Hundreds of employees clapped as the editor left the building, while many chanted, "Free media cannot be silenced".

Outside the building, Dumanli could barely make his way through a sea of more than 1000 people waving Turkish flags and applauding in support.

"Turkey is proud of you," the crowd chanted.

New York Times, Reuters

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