Voice of America: Erdogan starts fresh crackdown on media (video)
Turkish police launched a series of raids Tuesday on businesses owned by a major media company in what now appears to be the start of a fresh crackdown on newspapers and broadcasters critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Voice of America said citing rights groups. Erdogan, who wants the ruling AK Party to win back a majority in a snap Nov. 1 election, accuses U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen of seeking to overthrow him by means of a "parallel structure" of supporters in the judiciary, police, the media and other institutions. According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, 23 media businesses owned by the Koza Ipek group were searched on suspicion of providing financial support to the well-known Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is now in exile in the United States. Gulen was once an ally of the Turkish president but has become one of his fiercest critics. Opposition party leaders voiced concern about the police raids, while Turkey's new European Union Minister Ali Haydar Konca - a member of the pro-Kurdish opposition who joined an interim power-sharing cabinet last week - warned against any raids targeting the media, Reuters writes. Details are available in the video of Voice of America.
