Turkey appoints trustee to run pro-opposition Halk TV amid opposition crackdown

Turkish authorities appointed a government trustee to run pro-opposition broadcaster Halk TV, prosecutors said on Wednesday as police raided its Istanbul office, extending a crackdown on the opposition and prompting fresh concerns over media freedom.

The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office said its financial crimes unit had conducted an investigation into Halk TV Chairman Cafer Mahiroglu over "bribery, tender-rigging, and laundering of assets derived from crime."

Prosecutors ordered the detention of 17 people, including Mahiroglu, and 11 have been detained, the statement said, with firms linked to Mahiroglu seized and the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) appointed as trustee.

Mahiroglu is currently outside Turkey and being sought by the authorities.

The channel's live broadcast was cut at 6:30 a.m. (0330 GMT), after which pre-recorded material began airing. "Hundreds of police" were inside, and entry into the premises was not being permitted, it said on its website. A Halk TV programmer said negotiations with the trustee delegation to continue broadcasts had yielded no results.

The move comes days after Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the court-appointed chairman of Turkey's former main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), publicly criticized Halk TV and Mahiroglu over its coverage. He said the CHP had complained to Turkey's RTUK television watchdog but no action was taken.

Kilicdaroglu lost the CHP leadership to Ozgur Ozel in 2023, but was reinstated by a court ruling in May amid an unprecedented legal crackdown on the opposition. He has refused to call new party elections, while his rhetoric has become more aligned with the government.

The CHP later criticized Wednesday's raid on Halk TV as a "shameful" example of "systematic pressure" on opposition media.

The European Parliament's Turkey rapporteur Nacho Sanchez Amor criticized the move on X/Twitter, saying that the government was "not happy with controlling 90% of media" and was "aiming for the 100%."

"Amidst detentions of journalists & broad online censorship, freedom of media & expression will soon be just a memory."

Crackdown on press freedom

Wednesday's move makes Halk TV the fifth major Turkish news outlet to have a trustee appointed, following similar legal decisions for Flash TV, Eko Turk, Haberturk and Tele1.

Authorities have appointed trustees in recent years to take over many municipalities, previously seizing those run by pro-Kurdish opposition mayors in southeastern Turkey and more recently major municipalities - including Istanbul and its districts - won by the opposition, prompting some mayors to join President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party.

Rights groups and Western countries have criticized the government over its use of the judiciary, its record on rights, and its crackdown on press freedom in recent years as it establishes tighter control over mainstream media. Several opposition or independent outlets have experienced access bans, fines, and other restrictions.

The government says Turkey's judiciary is independent. It has not commented publicly on the latest moves against Halk TV.

Opposition head decries Turkish authorities as 'impotent, cowards'

Ozel, who now leads the main opposition New Party, condemned Wednesday's move, as did the pro-Kurdish opposition DEM Party.

"Dawn raid on a television channel, appointing a trustee — only dictators would do such a thing," Ozel said on X. "Those who appoint trustees to municipalities and trample the people's will have now appointed a trustee to Halk TV, watched by millions. Because THEY ARE IMPOTENT AND COWARDS!"

The raid on Halk TV came as Erdogan's biggest political rival, jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, was expected to start his defense on Wednesday in a sweeping corruption trial of more than 400 defendants linked to the Istanbul municipality.

"On such a day, a trustee was appointed to Halk TV, one of the most-watched news channels in Turkey," Turkish Journalists' Union Chairman Gokhan Durmus told Reuters, adding Turkey was facing another "dark chapter" in terms of freedom of press and expression.

"It remains unclear what the fate of our 200 colleagues working inside (Halk TV) and its editorial line will be from now on."