Istanbul prosecutor: Trustees' access to Zaman HQ blocked
'The entrance doors were chained shut,' says Hadi Salihoglu
Istanbul
ISTANBUL
An Istanbul chief public prosecutor said on Monday that the trustees who were appointed to take over the management of Feza Media Group were prevented from entering the Zaman newspaper offices.
“When the trustees took the decision notice to take over operations at Feza Gazetecilik A.S., elderly people and especially women wearing headscarf were gathered by company management,” Hadi Salihoglu said in a statement.
“The entry of the trustees [into the building] was blocked because the entrance doors were chained shut,” he added.
Last Friday, a Turkish court decided to appoint trustees for the Zaman newspaper, a daily linked to the U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen. Trustees entered the Zaman headquarters under police protection on Friday.
The company is accused of supporting what is called the Gulenist Terror Organization, headed by Gulen, which is said to have infiltrated Turkey’s state apparatus with thousands of followers in an effort to overthrow the government.
Known also by the initials FETO/PDY, the parallel state designates a clandestine group of Turkish bureaucrats and senior officials, allegedly embedded in the country’s institutions, including the judiciary and the police.
