Turkey TV Owner Detained over Government Overthrow Plot

Turkish TV showed police leading away Haberal, owner of Kanal B. Photo by tusak.saglik.gov.tr

The Turkish police have detained Monday the operator of an opposition television station over alleged plot to overthrow the government.

The arrest of Mehmet Haberal, who is also the rector of Baskent University in Ankara, was announced by the official Anatolian news agency, as cited by CNN.

Turkish TV showed police leading away Haberal, owner of Kanal B. The police also searched the TV station, the university, and a non-governmental organization in Istanbul that provides scholarships to women.

A second academic, Professor Fatih Hilmioglu, former rector of Inonu University, was also detained after his house was searched on Monday.

The raids appeared to be linked to an ongoing investigation into an alleged plot to overthrow the government. More then 80 suspects, including retired army generals, police officers, businessmen, journalists and academics, have been implicated in an alleged gang called Ergenekon. Suspects have been accused of carrying out assassinations and bombings in an effort to destabilize society and undermine Turkey's elected government.

The investigation has turned into a political witch-hunt of secularist opponents of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose ruling Justice and Development Party has its roots in political Islam, critics claimed.

 

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