Attack on Zaman Newspaper Office

The Steering Board of the Journalists Association of Turkey (TGC) condemned the assault on the office of the Zaman Newspaper in Rotterdam (Netherlands). The office was attacked on Monday in the very early morning (19 March). Material damage was caused to the building.

The TGC announced, "Unfortunately, this sort of attacks against press freedom that try to inflict pressure on journalists are still being continued. However, these efforts are not going to yield any result. The attacks on the offices of the Zaman newspapers are attacks on the people's right to information. We expect the Dutch authorities to arrest the assailants and their instigators as soon as possible. We send our best wishes to the employees of the Zaman Newspaper and the Rotterdam Office".

Previous attacks

Offices of the Zaman newspaper in Germany and France were attacked in the past.

İsmail Erdem, Netherlands Director of the newspaper, said that according to records of the security cameras of the Rotterdam office five disguised people smashed all windows at the front side of the building at around two o'clock in the morning on 19 March.

Erdem reported that the employees informed the police when they arrived at the office in the morning. The police investigated the scene of incident and launched an investigation to find the attackers.

"As far as we understood from the footage this was not an ordinary attack. We think it was a planned assault. This attack is not only an attack against the Zaman newspaper. This was an attack against an official institution in the Netherlands. We want the assailants to be arrested as soon as possible. We hope that the Dutch authorities will deal with this incident effectively", Erdem said. (IC/VK)