Turkey Detains Chairman of Opposition Newspaper

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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/11/11/world/europe/ap-eu-turkey-newspaper-arrests.html

>ISTANBUL — Turkish authorities on Friday detained the chairman of the left-leaning and pro-secular opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet on Friday, a week after several senior staff members were arrested for allegedly supporting terrorist organizations.

>Police detained Akin Atalay when his flight from Berlin arrived at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.

>Atalay had a standing detention order issued along with other senior staff for allegedly supporting Kurdish militants as well as a movement led by Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based Muslim cleric whom Turkey accuses of masterminding the failed coup in July.

>Editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu, cartoonist Musa Kart and other staff were detained Oct. 31 and later put under arrest pending trial.

>Atalay's wife, who was with her husband on the flight, told reporters at the airport that his arrest appeared to be a move that would pave the way for the appointment of a government trustee to oversee the newspaper.

>"This isn't an action taken against the individuals. We think this action was taken so a trustee can be appointed to Cumhuriyet," Adalet Atalay said.

>Cumhuriyet lawyer Bahri Belen said they were likely going to put Akin Atalay formally under arrest like his colleagues.

>"We have been saying since the beginning that what was done against Cumhuriyet is a political operation, not a legal one. There is no legal basis behind the reasons given for our friends under arrest," he added.
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