Two Gülen-linked broadcasters shut down

ISTANBUL

Private broadcasters Kanaltürk and Bugün TV, which were owned by the alleged Gülen-linked Koza İpek Media Group, were shut down on Feb. 29.

In addition, the operations of Koza İpek Media Group ended as of Feb. 29. Employees have packed up their belongings from the building.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Oct. 26, 2015, ordered the Koza-İpek Group to be placed under the management of a trustee panel while an investigation is ongoing into the group’s purported ties to the U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gülen, a former government ally. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) now accuse Gülen of heading a purported illegal organization that Erdoğan believes is trying to topple the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government with followers working as insiders in the police, the judiciary and other state institutions. 

Istanbul police used force on Oct. 28, 2015, to enter the media holding’s headquarters and seize control of the media outlets owned by the Koza-İpek Group, dramatically breaking into the main broadcasting room and shutting down the two TV stations owned by the group.