Turkey’s Zaman Newspaper Denies Reports of Planned Closure by Government

Turkey’s Zaman newspaper denied in an interview with Sputnik on Friday that local media reports of government plans to close it down had been substantiated.

ANKARA (Sputnik) – On Thursday, it was reported in the Turkish media that state-appointed trustees had ruled to shut down Zaman and the Cihan news service, effective from May 15. Both outlets are part of the Feza Yayin Grubu media conglomerate.

Ceasing the newspaper’s operations requires prior preparatory measures and legal procedures, including the consent of the general prosecutor, none of which has happened, according to Zaman.

The outlet contended that it would do its utmost to continue remain open, adding that it had no plans to cease its operations.

An Istanbul court ruled in early March to place both Zaman and Cihan under the Turkish authorities’ supervisory control. The Journalists Trade Union of Turkey condemned the media crackdown being pursued by Ankara as a new form of censorship.

More than 400 journalists at the Cihan news agency and the Zaman newspaper have reportedly been fired since the alleged decision to close down the outlets.

The international community, including the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations have repeatedly criticized the press restrictions imposed by Ankara.