By Tuvan Gumrukcu
ANKARA, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Turkish authorities appointed a government trustee to run pro-opposition broadcaster Halk TV, prosecutors said on Wednesday, as police raided its Istanbul office, extending a crackdown on the opposition and prompting fresh concerns over media freedom.
The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office said its financial crimes unit had conducted an investigation into Halk TV Chairman Cafer Mahiroglu over “bribery, tender-rigging, and laundering of assets derived from crime”, adding that evidence, witness statements and transaction records showed criminal activity.
Prosecutors ordered the detention of 17 people, including Mahiroglu, and 11 have been detained, the statement said, adding that firms linked to Mahiroglu were seized and the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) appointed as trustee.
Mahiroglu, who is currently outside Turkey, is being sought by the authorities.
The channel’s live broadcast was cut at 6:30 a.m. (0330 GMT), after which pre-recorded material began airing. It said on its website that “hundreds of police” were inside and entry into the premises was not being permitted. A Halk TV programmer said negotiations with the trustee delegation to continue broadcasts had yielded no results.
The move comes days after Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the court-appointed chairman of Turkey’s former main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), publicly criticised Halk TV and Mahiroglu over its coverage. He said the CHP had complained to Turkey’s RTUK television watchdog but no action was taken.
Kilicdaroglu lost the CHP leadership to Ozgur Ozel in 2023, but was reinstated by a court ruling in May amid an unprecedented legal crackdown on the opposition. He has refused to call new party elections, while his rhetoric has become more aligned with the government.
The CHP later criticised Wednesday’s raid on Halk TV as a “shameful” example of “systematic pressure” on opposition media and said its own complaints about the broadcaster’s coverage were a “natural part of democratic life”.
CRACKDOWN ON PRESS FREEDOM
Wednesday’s move makes Halk TV the fifth major Turkish news outlet to have a trustee appointed, following similar legal decisions for Flash TV, Eko Turk, Haberturk and Tele1.
Authorities have appointed trustees in recent years to take over municipalities and companies. It has long appointed trustees to seize municipalities run by elected pro-Kurdish opposition mayors in southeastern Turkey and has more recently taken similar steps in major municipalities – including Istanbul and its districts – won by the opposition, prompting some mayors to join President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party.
Rights groups and Western countries have criticised the government over its use of the judiciary, its record on rights, and crackdown on press freedom in recent years as it establishes tighter control over mainstream media. Several opposition or independent outlets have experienced access bans, fines, and other restrictions.
The government says Turkey’s judiciary is independent. It has not commented publicly on the latest moves against Halk TV.
Ozel, who now leads the main opposition New Party, condemned Wednesday’s move, as did the pro-Kurdish opposition DEM Party.
“Dawn raid on a television channel, appointing a trustee — only dictators would do such a thing,” Ozel said on X. “Those who appoint trustees to municipalities and trample the people’s will have now appointed a trustee to Halk TV, watched by millions. Because THEY ARE IMPOTENT AND COWARDS!”
The raid on Halk TV came as Erdogan’s biggest political rival, jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, was expected to start his defence on Wednesday in a sweeping corruption trial of more than 400 defendants linked to the Istanbul municipality.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Can Sezer; Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay, Daren Butler and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Gareth Jones)
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