Police raid headquarters of Turkish newspaper

• Police, using tear gas and water cannons, on Friday raided the headquarters of Turkey’s largest-circulation newspaper, hours after a court placed it under the management of trustees. The move against the paper, which is linked to an opposition cleric, heightened concerns over deteriorating press freedoms in the country.

Police dispersed protesters who had gathered outside of the opposition Zaman newspaper’s Istanbul headquarters before breaking down a gate and entering the building to escort the court- appointed managers and evict newspaper workers.

The court action against Zaman newspaper was brought by a public prosecutor and came amid an intensified government campaign against the moderate Islamic movement led by U. S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. It accuses the movement of attempting to bring down the government.

Reporters without Borders accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of “moving from authoritarianism to all- out despotism.”