Turkish police raid Halk TV and appoint trustee — Cyprus Mail

In Istanbul, police raided the office of the opposition-supporting Turkish television channel Halk TV, and a government-appointed trustee was assigned to manage the broadcaster. This was reported by Cyprus Mail, citing Reuters.

Broadcast interrupted during raid

Halk TV said that hundreds of police officers entered the building. According to the channel, outsiders were not allowed to enter the building during the raid.

The channel's live broadcast was interrupted at 6:30 a.m. (03:30 GMT), after which pre-recorded material began to be shown. Halk TV employee Deniz Bayramoglu wrote on social media platform X that editor-in-chief Suat Toktas tried to persuade the head of the group of trustees to allow the live broadcast to continue, but was refused.

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Opposition reaction

Turkish authorities did not immediately comment on the raid or the appointment of the trustee. The reasons for these actions were also unknown.

The leader of the main opposition party, Ozgur Ozel, condemned the interference in the television channel's work. He said it was an attempt to restrict people's access to news and mentioned previous cases in which elected mayors were removed as part of legal pressure on the opposition.

Human rights organizations and Western countries have previously criticized the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the deterioration of the human rights situation and restrictions on press freedom. Reuters notes that opposition and independent media have faced access blocking, throttling, fines, and other restrictions.