ANKARA: Turkey’s state-run news agency says police are searching the premises of a business and media group known to be close to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric whom the government accuses of trying to destabilize it.
The Anadolu Agency said police on Tuesday were searching 23 companies in Ankara linked to Koza Ipek Holding over suspicion of providing financial assistance to the movement led by Fethullah Gulen.
Koza Ipek Holding owns opposition television stations Bugun TV and Kanal Turk as well as Bugun and Millet newspapers, among other business interests.
The government accuses the movement of orchestrating a corruption scandal in 2013 with the aim of toppling it. Gulen has rejected the accusation.
Critics say the police operation on Koza Ipek aims to muzzle opposition media ahead a Nov. 1 election.
