by WorldTribune Staff, March 25, 2018
A businessman and close confidante of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to purchase Turkey’s largest media group, which includes CNN-Turk, a report said.
The Demiroren Group of magnate Erdogan Demiroren will buy Dogan Media Group for around $1 billion (810 million euros), AFP reported.
Along with CNN-Turk, Dogan Media Group includes some of Turkey’s most prestigious media names, including the Hurriyet daily newspaper, the Fanatik sports daily, and the Kanal-D channel.
The Erdogan government cracked down on media outlets following the failed coup attempt in 2016 that appeared to some analysts as designed to expand the government’s power and may have been orchestrated by Russian interests according to a report by the Washington Free Beacon.
A senior Dogan Media Group journalist said the sale was part of a trend in Turkey to centralize media control.
“It is an indication of a lack of pluralism, zero tolerance to dissent, and a rock bottom for freedom of expression in Turkey,” the staffer, who asked not be named, told AFP.
“With this acquisition, around 90 percent of Turkish media is now largely under government control.”
Earlier this month, a Turkish court sentenced 25 journalists to jail for allegedly aiding the network that Turkey accuses of orchestrating the attempted coup.
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