--- description: Turkey's highest-circulation newspaper has effectively gone into exile after the government seized control of the organ's offices title: Turkey's Biggest Newspaper to Publish in Exile After Seizure image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00d49e68b4b45aee/69888a0aa988ca80306b6e0a/rts9dmf.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Turkey's Biggest Newspaper to Publish in Exile After Government Seizure by [Simon Lewis](/author/simon-lewis/) ## Simon Lewis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 8, 2016 9:01 AM CUT  Riot police stand at the headquarters of Zaman newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey, late March 4, 2016 Riot police stand at the headquarters of Zaman newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey, late March 4, 2016Stringer—Reuters by [Simon Lewis](/author/simon-lewis/) ## Simon Lewis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 8, 2016 9:01 AM CUT Turkey’s highest-circulating newspaper has effectively [gone into exile](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-media-germany-idUSKCN0W9227 "undefined") after the government seized control of the paper’s offices and began publishing flattering stories about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The opposition-aligned _Zaman_ would continue to exist in the form of its German edition, Sueleyman Bag, editor-in-chief of _Zaman Almanya_ (Zaman Germany), told Reuters. “We will print an independent newspaper. We still have not addressed the question of how we do that. This is a new challenge for us,” Bag added. Authorities took control of _Zaman_’s Istanbul headquarters on Friday after a court ruled that the paper’s management must be replaced by court-appointed administrators. The move is part of a wider [crackdown](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35729114 "undefined") on domestic supporters of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, a political opponent that Erdogan’s administration has branded a terrorist. > [](https://twitter.com/todayszamancom/status/706410423050850304) According to al-Jazeera, the front page of Sunday’s _Zaman_ — the first edition published since the takeover — [lead](http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/turkey-largest-newspaper-tows-line-seizure-160306082619067.html "undefined") with a softball story about Erdogan overseeing the construction of a bridge. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4250641/turkey-newspaper-exile-after-seizure/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4250641/turkey-newspaper-exile-after-seizure/"},"headline":"Turkey's Biggest Newspaper to Publish in Exile After Government Seizure","datePublished":"2016-03-08T09:01:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:42:07.362Z","description":"Authorities raided the paper's Istanbul headquarters on Friday","url":"https://time.com/4250641/turkey-newspaper-exile-after-seizure/","keywords":["Turkey"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00d49e68b4b45aee/69888a0aa988ca80306b6e0a/rts9dmf.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Simon Lewis","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/simon-lewis/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00d49e68b4b45aee/69888a0aa988ca80306b6e0a/rts9dmf.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Riot police stand at the headquarters of Zaman newspaper in Istanbul","caption":"Riot police stand at the headquarters of Zaman newspaper in Istanbul","creditText":"Stringer—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4250641/turkey-newspaper-exile-after-seizure/","name":"Turkey's Biggest Newspaper to Publish in Exile After Government Seizure"}}]}] ```