Turkish police raid Zaman building, attempt to detain editor
Protesters stage demonstration as police officials raid the building. (Photo: Today's Zaman)
Date posted: December 14, 2014
Turkish police have raided the Zaman daily headquarters in İstanbul in early-morning operation, but failed to detain the chief of the newspaper.
Anti-terrorism units from İstanbul police department arrived at Zaman building in Yenibosna on Sunday morning, facing a fierce resistance by protesters. The police officials were allowed to enter inside the building, but could not proceed further as heavy presence of protesters created a small stampede.
The police reportedly came to detain Zaman daily editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanlı. The officials said they could not “fulfill their tasks” because of the pressure and had to leave the building. Protesters chanted unceasing slogans such as “Free Media Cannot be Silenced.”
According to a video posted by Mehmet Cerit, the editor of Zaman Vandaag, an overseas subsidiary of the government-seized Turkish daily Zaman, a man is seen turning away the people whom he considered Hizmet members, just before the Friday prayer in a mosque in Germany.
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