Turkish police storm offices of critical media group, fire tear gas, detain journalis

[GennGreymane]

http://national.bgnnews.com/police-s...s-haberi/10666

At around 4:40 a.m. local time (1:40 a.m. GMT), special operations police officers supported by armored water cannons took up positions in front of the critical İpek Media Group offices in the Şişli neighborhood of Istanbul’s European side. A large crowd of citizens and journalists who had remained outside the premises all night long in support of the embattled media group protested their arrival with jeers.

On Monday, less than a week before the Nov. 1 snap election, Ankara ordered the seizure of Koza İpek Holding, which owns several media properties critical of the government.

Upon a request by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Musa Yücel, Ankara 5th Criminal Peace Magistrate Judge Yunus Süer ordered Koza İpek Holding be put under receivership, with a variety of pro-government trustees, including the strongly pro-government Sabah-ATV Media Group, appointed to replace the current board of directors.

Informed of the arrival of police early Wednesday morning, opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Mahmut Tanal arrived on the scene. Speaking with reporters, the former lawyer explained the legal framework regarding the appointment of trustees and underlined that the ongoing actions were a violation of the law. He added that police had no authority to enforce the receivership until it was finalized.

CHP deputy Eren Erdem echoed that the entire affair was a violation of the law, highlighting that under Article 30 of the Turkish Constitution, media outlets cannot be seized as criminal instruments.

At 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday, police forces attempted to enter the offices. Resisted by the large crowd waiting outside, they lobbed tear gas and fired from their mobile water cannons. Many citizens were detained and CHP deputy Mahmut Tanal was roughed up.

At 8:15 a.m., the police broke down the gates of the offices and stormed the premises, dragging İpek Media employees along with them. Several were detained with plastic restraint cuffs.

CHP deputy Mahmut Tanal warned the officers that they had no right to enforce the decision at the time; MP Eren Erdem also grabbed a microphone and continued warning the police against the use of force.

At 8:25 a.m., the police managed to break down the doors to the building after firing tear gas and assaulting the reporters who resisted in front of the doors.

At 8:30 a.m., the police began going through the building room by room and forcing the employees outside.

At 8:35 a.m., the appointed trustees entered the meeting room.

At 8:40 a.m., the police once again began firing tear gas and water cannons at the citizens outside.

Meanwhile, CHP deputy Barış Yarkadaş made a statement to the press: “The government has now made the police accomplices to their crime. Today is a shameful day. We are now seeing the last moments of Bugün TV broadcasting freely – Oct. 28, 2015. Everyone who made this decision and those who implemented it will have to answer for their crimes before history.”

At 8:42 a.m., Bugün TV head Tarık Toros also spoke to the press: “This is not some textile workshop. If trustees are appointed to the management, the broadcast continues. But they’re trying something else! If our broadcast ends, then it is media censorship. It is an attempt to influence the election.”

At 9:07 a.m., police began tearing the cables out of cameras to prevent live footage.

At 9:10 a.m., Bugün daily court reporter Kamil Maman was detained. “The police are taking me to the Şişli police station. The police who attacked me inside the building and detained me knew my name beforehand,” he tweeted as he was being taken away.

At 9:20 a.m., police forces cut broadcast of the channel Kanaltürk.

At 9:30 a.m., the police stormed the command center of news channel Bugün TV and attempted to cut broadcast.

At 9:45 a.m., Today's Zaman Editor-in-Chief Bülent Keneş, who had arrived at İpek Media offices in a show of solidarity, was attacked by the police.

At 11:05 a.m., the appointed trustee with his police escort attempted to cut the satellite feed for Bugün TV, but was unsuccessful.

At 11:30 a.m., another large group of police officers stormed İpek Media offices and spread out through the building. Bugün TV moved to the control room and continued broadcasting from there.

At 1:50 p.m., pro-Kurdish, left wing People's Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş visited the offices of İpek Media Group in a show of solidarity.

Demirtaş spoke to Bugün TV in the control room: “It is unbelievable for a state, a government, to be acting like the mafia, like an illegal organization... Firing tear gas, using batons, cutting the camera cables are mafia-like, gang-like practices."

“This is a reflection of a government's mindset based on force [and] power. It also raises suspicions [as it comes] just a couple of days before the election. It raises questions about whether or not they have a plan, or some hesitation about what would have been broadcast on election day,” Demirtaş added.

At 2:45 p.m., CHP's Barış Yarkadaş announced that the police were torturing citizens protesting outside in front of İpek Media offices.

At 3:45 p.m., CHP's Mahmut Tanal announced that around 30-40 plainclothes police officers had entered İpek Media Group offices.

At 4:15 p.m., footage revealed a large group of plainclothes officers entering the building and dispersing throughout the premises.

At 4:30 p.m., the plainclothes officers entered the satellite uplink room to turn off the feeds of Bugün and Kanaltürk TV.

At 4:34 p.m., the satellite uplink was shut off. When İpek Media employees asked to see documentation ordering the broadcast cut, the new trustees simply said they had taken the decision and that was enough.

At 4:45 p.m., Bugün TV Editor-in-Chief Tarık Toros was escorted by police officers out of the broadcasting room. A hand-written notice from the new executive board of Bugün TV declared that Toros had been sacked.

At 5:15 p.m., the police ordered the crowd gathered in front of building to clear the road.

At 11:35 p.m., trustees appointed to Koza İpek group halted the publication of Thursday’s print editions of two dailies that are included in the holding’s media group.

[Deleted]

Right in time for the elections. Good job Erdogan, you're getting good at this dictator thing. Even the European leaders are kissing your ass so you must be doing it right.

[Wilian]

Just need Kuntatee to confirm they were kurd infiltrators those filthy journalists.

[GennGreymane]

Just need Kuntatee to confirm they were kurd infiltrators those filthy journalists.

Something...something... propaganda?

[Kuntantee]

Just need Kuntatee to confirm they were kurd infiltrators those filthy journalists.

You should spare some time read why I write.

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Something...something... propaganda?

See above.

but you two are hopeless, you can't understand perspectives other than your own.

Carry on your shit posting.

[GennGreymane]

You should spare some time read why I write.

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See above.

I know I have read what you have said.

[Kuntantee]

I know I have read what you have said.

And still couldn't understand. That's your problem, you have rather limited comprehension capability. It's going to bite you in the ass in your law school.

[GennGreymane]

And still couldn't understand. That's your problem, you have rather limited comprehension capability. It's going to bite you in the ass in your law school.

Ah personal attacks, can you be more creative? You have used that one numerous times. Its old now. Im sorry, but you tend to just complain that all westerns use media you dont like because you assume we dont think its also propaganda. My argument against you is that BBC, Fox, CNN, France 24, for example are all separate sources with different angles.

Now, will you be productive on this thread? If not, you are not needed here.

[Kuntantee]

It's rather fascinating that you are crying about being productive on thread after shit posting. I firmly believe your comprehension capability is rather limited, it's not something I express as an insult. Sometimes, reality is not a compliment.

[jaykco]

Sounds like what people want to do with Fox News.

[GennGreymane]

It's rather fascinating that you are crying about being productive on thread after shit posting. I firmly believe your comprehension capability is rather limited, it's not something I express as an insult. Sometimes, reality is not a compliment.

I see that you once again refuse to post constructively on this thread and refuse to defend your own positions.

[Frostweaver]

There is really no place for debate here, free speech is free speech..if you oppress it then you are not a free country. Going with armed police forces on journalist is a clear sign what kind of country Turkey is.

[Kuntantee]

I see that you refuse to post constructively on this thread and refuse to defend your own positions.

My last post is going to be re-posting your own shit-post in your own thread while quoting a post of yours whining about "posting constructively".

Here it is:

Just need Kuntatee to confirm they were kurd infiltrators those filthy journalists.

Something...something... propaganda?

Read your own posts, understand what they imply before opening your mouth next time.

[GennGreymane]

My last post is going to be re-posting your own shit-post in your own thread while quiting a whine about "posting constructively".

Here it is:



Talk about "constructive posting" more

I will. I posted a thread about journalists being attacked in Turkey. Now will you continue to attempt to derail the thread, or will you instead post constructively?

[Forgettable]

My last post is going to be re-posting your own shit-post in your own thread while quoting a post of yours whining about "posting constructively".

Here it is:

Read your own posts, understand what they imply before opening your mouth next time.

I will. I posted a thread about journalists being attacked in Turkey. Now will you continue to attempt to derail the thread, or will you instead post constructively?

This thread would be so much better if both of you would stop needing the last word.

[Stop Pretending]

I see that you once again refuse to post constructively on this thread and refuse to defend your own positions.

The irony of this statement coming from you is in measurable.

[Deleted]

I will. I posted a thread about journalists being attacked in Turkey. Now will you continue to attempt to derail the thread, or will you instead post constructively?

Just ignore him, don't feed him.

Erdogan is getting quite mad, wouldn't suprise me if he tried to rig the elections.

[GennGreymane]

The irony of this statement coming from you is in measurable.

How so?


Actually on topic. THis is all leading up for the Turkish Election. It shows possible weakness within his government and his control.

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Just ignore him, don't feed him.

Erdogan is getting quite mad, wouldn't suprise me if he tried to rig the elections.

I would also not be surprised if he were to do so.

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It seems he does have an end game though

Erdogan says Turkey may hit U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds to block advance

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/28/us-mideast-crisis-turkey-kurds-idUSKCN0SM2V620151028

Turkey will "do what is necessary" to prevent U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish rebels from declaring autonomy in the town of Tel Abyad near the Turkish border, including conducting further military operations, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

NATO member Turkey is part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Syria, but it sees advances by autonomy-seeking Kurds, led by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), as a threat to its own national security, fearing they could stoke separatism among Turkish Kurds.

Turkish jets recently hit the Syrian Kurds' armed People's Protection Units (YPG) targets twice after they defied Ankara and crossed west of the Euphrates River.

"This was a warning. 'Pull yourself together. If you try to do this elsewhere - Turkey doesn't need permission from anyone - we will do what is necessary,'" Erdogan said, signaling he could defy Washington's demand that Ankara avoid hitting Syrian Kurds and focus its military might on Islamic State targets.

Erdogan, in remarks broadcast live on the Kanal 24 television station, also accused the PYD of carrying out "ethnic cleansing" in the area and said Western support for the Syrian Kurdish militias amounted to aiding terrorism.

Backed by U.S.-led air strikes, YPD fighters captured Tel Abyad in June from Islamic State, and this month a local leadership council declared the town part of the system of autonomous self-governing "cantons" run by the Kurds.

"The PYD is committing ethnic cleansing here (of) Arabs and Turkmen," Erdogan said. "If the Kurds withdraw and don't form a canton, there's no problem. But if the mindset continues, then what is necessary will be done or we face serious problems.

"We are determined to (combat) anything that threatens us along the Syrian border, inside or out."

Turkey does not want to see an autonomous Kurdish entity resembling Iraqi Kurdistan emerging on its southern flank, said Erdogan, speaking days before a Turkish parliamentary election that has aggravated political and security tensions.

Western allies are now arming the Kurds, he added.

"They don't even accept the PYD as a terrorist organization. What kind of nonsense is this?" he said. "The West still has the mentality of 'My terrorist is good, yours is bad.'"

Within Turkey, the armed forces have resumed their 30-year fight with militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which wants autonomy for the Turkish Kurds and also has close links with their ethnic brethren across the border in Syria.

Erdogan said 1,400 PKK militants were fighting alongside the YPG in Syria.

The United States and Europe, like Turkey, classify the PKK as a terrorist organization but regard the Syrian and Iraqi Kurdish groupings as valuable allies in the fight against Islamic State and other jihadis.

[Deleted]

It seems he does have an end game though

Erdogan says Turkey may hit U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds to block advance

It would anger but not suprise me if he where to declare martial law to prevent the elections from happening, but I don't know if thats in his power tough. But it would mean serious trouble if Erdie went on a power trip.

A powerhungry dictator on the border of an unstable Greece in the middle of a asylum seeker crisis is not something the EU could use right now, even tough it might tighten the coorperation between the EU memberstates.

[GennGreymane]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Turkey

Executive functions[edit]
to appoint and to accept the resignation of the prime minister,
to appoint and dismiss ministers upon the proposal of the prime minister,
to preside over the council of ministers or to call the council of ministers to meet under his chairmanship whenever he deems it necessary,
to accredit representatives of the Turkish State to foreign states, and to receive the representatives of foreign states appointed to the Republic of Turkey,
to ratify and promulgate international treaties,
to represent the Supreme Military Command of the Turkish Armed Forces on behalf of the Turkish Grand National Assembly,
to decide on the mobilization of the Turkish Armed Forces,
to appoint the Chief of the General Staff,
to call the National Security Council to meet,
to preside over the National Security Council,
to proclaim martial law or state of emergency, and to issue decrees having the force of law, upon a decision of the council of ministers meeting under his chairmanship,
to sign decrees,
to grant full or partial clemency, on grounds of chronic illness, disability, or old age, all or part of the sentences imposed on certain individuals
to appoint the members and the chairman of the State Supervisory Council,
to instruct the State Supervisory Council to carry out inquiries, investigations and inspections,
to appoint the members of the Higher Education Council,
to appoint rectors of universities.

seeems to be within his powers