Turkish authorities took control of Halk TV on Wednesday — raiding the outlet's Istanbul studios, cutting all broadcasts and appointing a government trustee to oversee the company during an investigation into alleged corruption.
"Police raid at Halk TV headquarters! A trustee [manager] has been appointed, broadcasts have been halted," posted the popular news channel on X as police guarded the building, financial crimes agents searched offices and computers, and technicians cut live news channel feeds and YouTube broadcasts.
Footage posted online showed the moment the channel's live broadcast feed was cut — during an interview about a huge investment-fund scandal — and replaced with a classic Turkish film from 1973.
In a statement, the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office announced that Halk TV owner Cafer Mahiroglu is under investigation for "bribery, tender-rigging, and laundering of assets derived from crime."
Government trustees were installed at Halk TV and other companies owned by Mahiroglu.
In all, prosecutors say 17 detention warrants were issued, with 11 individuals taken into custody.
Mahiroglu, who lives abroad and is being sought by authorities, decried what he called "a dark day for Turkey" and blasted the allegations against him as "baseless" in a video posted on X. The pro-opposition broadcaster said seven of his relatives had been detained by authorities.
"The public's right to information is being seized for political reasons," he said. "Using the judiciary as a weapon is the greatest harm inflicted on Turkey."
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Press freedom groups and opposition parties joined Mahiroglu in condemning the government takeover as the latest step by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to silence his critics.
Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition New Party, said the raid was an abuse of government power.
Ozel called the raids "weak and cowardly," saying it was no coincidence they occurred just as jailed Erdogan opponent, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, was set to make headlines delivering his defense in a sprawling graft trial.
"Raiding a television channel at dawn and appointing a trustee is an act only dictators would commit," Ozel wrote on X. "Unfortunately, this is the state to which they have reduced our country."
Press freedom has suffered dramatically during Erdogan's 22 years in power.
In the most recent Reporters Without Borders world press freedom index Turkey ranked 163 of 180 countries.
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Ankara-based Contemporary Journalists Association decried the action against Halk TV, stating: "The appointment of a trustee at Halk TV and the suspension of its broadcast constitute a grave intervention against press freedom and freedom of expression. This decision, which disregards constitutional rights and the public's right to access information, is unacceptable."
Halk TV's takeover made it the fifth major Turkish news outlet forcefully put under trusteeship, following similar situations at Flash TV, Eko Turk, Haberturk and Tele1.
Veysel Ok, co-director of media-rights watchdog MLSA, said the intervention against Halk TV was "one of the most significant steps in the government's efforts to monopolize the flow of information."
"Halk TV's position as the most-watched news channel also reveals the real target of this intervention: Depriving the public of its right to access news from different sources," Ok told French news agency AFP.
"Defending press freedom means defending the public's right to learn the truth, hold the government to account and freely decide its own future."
The European Parliament's Turkey rapporteur Nacho Sanchez Amor criticized the move on X, saying the government was clearly "not happy with controlling 90% of media" and was instead "aiming for the 100%."
"Amidst detentions of journalists & broad online censorship, freedom of media & expression will soon be just a memory."
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Edited by: Wesley Dockery