Turkey: 'New Protest Held' against Zaman Takeover

Several people have been injured in a second day protests in front of the headquarters of Zaman media group which was taken over by the Turkish government on Friday, some local media report.

State trustees were appointed in compliance with a court ruling to head the country's biggest newspaper in compliance with a court ruling, triggering a public backlash.

Protests followed suit, with police using water cannon and teargas to disperse demonstrators in frong ot the Feza Gazatecilik Media group (which owns Zaman, Today's Zaman, Aksiyon magaine, Zaman Kitap, and Cihan News Agency).

The English-language website is still available as of Saturday, while the Turkish edition experienced a breakdown earlier during the day and was available again as of 16:55 EET.

Human rights and press freedom organizations, alongside the US state department, have harshly reacted to the decision of Ankara, urging it to reverse its move.

EU officials have not yet reacted to the developments.

A summit bringing together EU and Turkish leaders is due on March 07, Monday to discuss the migrant crisis.

In the meantime, Brussels issued a positive report on Turkey's progress under the visa liberalization plan.

Separately, there have been suggestions among EU politicians that the nearly EUR 3 B in assistance earmarked for Turkey to help it cope with the migrant crisis might have to be doubled.

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