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Journalists In Turkey Protest Censorship Of Independent Media

Journalists in Turkey clashed with authorities in protests against a government-orchestrated take-over of Turkish newspaper Zaman earlier this week, as a mass crackdown on independent media in Turkey has been implemented by Erdogan’s administration.  The Turkish government have said they will shutdown or take over any media that is critical of government policy. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Murat Emir has criticised the crackdown as illegally stifling free speech and independent media. Todayszaman.com reports: Expressing that the media in Turkey faces new attacks every day, Emir said that the majority of these assaults were being done under the guise of the law. “We [CHP] condemn all attempts to subdue the free media. We are against all attacks [against the media] and believe these attacks must come to an end.” Speaking to Zaman daily on Friday morning, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Ümit Özdağ, who recently resigned from his position as deputy chairman of the MHP said he cannot believe the government is going to take over the Zaman daily and its subsidiaries. CHP deputy Akif Ekici said of the takeover that he believes the current government in Turkey has the potential to take over newspapers, appoint trustees to media organizations, and file [...]