TUSKON: Media raids discourage foreign investors

TUSKON head Rızanur Meral
TUSKON head Rızanur Meral


Date posted: December 17, 2014

Foreign investors will not come to a country where the media faces intense pressure, Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) President Rızanur Meral said, speaking in front of the Zaman daily offices in İstanbul on Tuesday.

“This must not be forgotten: Investments will not come to a country where ideas cannot be freely expressed and where news cannot be conveyed freely to the public,” said Meral. “As members of the business world, we view the raid against Samanyolu and Zaman as a coup waged against democracy and press freedom,” he added.

A total of 27 people, including Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı and Samanyolu TV (STV) Chairman Hidayet Karaca, from 13 provinces were taken into custody on Sunday in a move that has widely been interpreted as a crackdown on media outlets close to the Fethullah Gülen-inspired Hizmet movement.

“We are witnessing efforts to cover up the extensive corruption allegations that came out on Dec. 17 and 25. They are silencing everyone for this purpose. This includes the business world and members of TUSKON. The state is using all of its strength to exert tyranny and intimidation,” said Meral.

The Dec. 17 and 25 corruption investigation was officially dropped on Tuesday after a court rejected an appeal to reverse its earlier decision to not proceed with the case.

Unions react to media operation

“We will not consent to such persecution nor obey such oppression,” said Turkish Health and Social Services Union (TSS) President Önder Kahveci, saying Turkey descended further into a state of lawlessness with Sunday’s raid.

“We denounce this lawlessness, we protest it and we would like to send a message to the independent representatives of the free press that you are not alone,” said Active Educators Union (AES) President Osman Bahçe, commenting on the recent media operation.

Source: Today's Zaman , December 16, 2014

Tags: | | | | |


Related News

Woman with soft tissue tumor held in Ankara prison for 8 months: report

Seynur Özdemir, a Turkish woman from Ankara, suffers from soft tissue sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that begins in the tissues that connect, support and surround other body structures. She however has been held in Ankara’s Sİncan prison since June 2019 on terror and coup charges.

Smear campaign against Gülen fails after new details emerge on eavesdropping

The defamation campaign against the Gülen or Hizmet movement, which the Turkish president and his political Islamist Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government accuse of illegally wiretapping government officials, collapsed after it became clear that foreign security and intelligence agencies were involved in eavesdropping on senior Turkish officials.

Thousands Are In Turkish Prisons For Downloading This App

The government announced that at least 250,000 people downloaded ByLock on their cell phones. Even tracking this number is a violation of the law, but… oh well, who cares, right? More than 40,000 of these people worked in public institutions and suspected of being sympathizers of the Gulen movement.

Crackdown on journalists leaves void in post-coup Turkey

That is down in large part to the gutting of Turkey’s independent press. More than 115 journalists have been imprisoned and hundreds more fired since the July 15th coup attempt, while 130 media outlets have been shuttered. That, in addition to the sacking of more than 1,000 media workers in the previous 12 months, has left crucial questions unanswered. Put simply, there is no one left – or willing – to overturn the stones on which the failed military takeover was built.

Turkey tries to trap Obama with extradition demand [of Mr. Gülen]

But while U.S. agency spokesmen are trying to be cautious in what they say, skepticism about Turkey’s claims that Gulen directed the plot are widespread in Washington. Last week, in comments that likely burned a few ears in Ankara, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told The Washington Post that he did not believe Turkey had yet offered enough proof to implicate Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania’s Poconos region for years.

Kalashnikov-carrying police raid Gülen-inspired private and prep schools based on ‘reasonable suspicion’

Police carrying Kalashnikov rifles and inspectors from a number of government bodies raided 14 private and prep schools in Mardin province on Tuesday based on “reasonable suspicion” that the schools are involved in tax fraud, a move that comes as part of the government-orchestrated operation targeting the faith-based Gülen movement, popularly known as the Hizmet movement.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Turkish govt begins massive deportation of Nigerian students

‘Hizmet conspiracy’ theories rejected at iftar hosted by Alevis

Pakistan – Staff expelled from Turkish-backed schools on Erdogan’s demand

When Iconic Islamic scholar wins prestigious peace award

Gülen’s lawyer dismisses wiretapping claims

Woman detained along with 40-day-old baby while visiting jailed husband

Arabs, Turks attempt to redefine Arab uprisings, political trajectories

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News