Turkey Seizes Opposition News Agency, Days After It Takes Over Newspaper

A protester holds a copy of Turkish newspaper Zaman during a demonstration in Istanbul on March 6. (Source: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images)

ISTANBUL(VICE News/Reuters) ”” Turkish authorities have seized control of the Cihan news agency, according to a statement from Cihan, less than a week after they took over the country’s main opposition newspaper.

Cihan said on its website late on Monday an Istanbul court would appoint an administrator to run the agency at the request of a state prosecutor ”” a move being seen as the latest attempt to crack down on supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, an influential foe of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The seizure of the leading Gulen-linked newspaper, Zaman, on Friday prompted international alarm about press freedom in Turkey and was discussed at Monday’s European Union (EU) summit with Ankara over the migration crisis.

France’s foreign minister said the decision to seize control of Zaman, the country’s largest newspaper by circulation, was “unacceptable”