Turkish police raid opposition TV channel Halk TV

Turkish authorities have appointed a government trustee to run pro-opposition broadcaster Halk TV, as police raided the channel’s Istanbul office on Wednesday.

The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office said its financial crimes unit had been investigating Halk TV Chairman Cafer Mahiroglu over “bribery, tender-rigging, and laundering of assets derived from crime”.

It said evidence, witness statements and transaction records showed criminal activity.

Prosecutors have issued detention orders for 17 people, including Mahiroglu, and 11 have been detained. Mahiroglu is outside Turkey and is being sought by authorities.

Firms in which he is a partner or administrator have been seized, with the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) appointed as trustee.

“Hundreds of police have entered the building. Entry into the Halk TV building is not being permitted while a search is being conducted inside,” Halk TV said on its website.

The channel’s live broadcast was cut at 7:30am UAE time, and pre-recorded material began airing.

Halk TV programmer Deniz Bayramoglu said Editor-in-Chief Suat Toktas had tried to persuade the trustees to let the broadcast continue, but was refused.

Halk TV is the fifth major Turkish news outlet to have a trustee appointed, after Flash TV, Eko Turk, Haberturk and Tele1.

The government has also used trustees to take over opposition-held municipalities, removing elected mayors as part of a wider legal crackdown on the opposition.

Opposition leader Ozgur Ozel condemned the move, saying it was an attempt to stop people accessing news.

“Dawn raid on a television channel, appointing a trustee, only dictators would do such a thing,” he said on X.

Rights groups and Western countries have criticised President Tayyip Erdogan’s government over its human rights record and a crackdown on press freedom in recent years.