CNN Turk has been allegedly forced to halt their coverage of the coup in Turkey after soldiers vacated the studio.
Photo: CNN Turk Twitter
According to The Guardian, a group of soldiers landed at the Dogan Media Center, where the studios of CNN Turk are located, and entered the studio, forcing anchors out of their chairs and workers out of the building. The station was providing updates via its Twitter feed. Gawker reported that journalists resisted, and several people were heard screaming on air.
BREAKING A group of soldiers landed in Dogan Media Center where @cnnturk is based. They have entered the studio. pic.twitter.com/D2QMF6s8Xt
— CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 16, 2016
According to Borzou Daragahi, a BuzzFeed reporter in the Middle East, one journalist was shot in the takeover.
Breaking: Senior Turkey official says one journalist reported shot in takeover of @CNNTurk by coup plotters. Journalists’ phones seized.
— Borzou Daragahi (@borzou) July 16, 2016
At one point, the Facebook live feed showed an empty desk and chair, but a CNN worker has since returned. Viewers can hear the sounds of crowds chanting from outside the studio.
It’s not just CNN that has been hit. Other Instanbul-based publications have been forced to stop operations by the military. Emre Kizilkaya, an Istanbul-based journalist who works for the Hurriyet Gazetesi, said that soldiers entered the building and have taken some of his colleagues as hostages.
A group of putschist soldiers are now raiding our newspaper. They are coming to my floor pic.twitter.com/1OPlb74tqe
— Emre KIZILKAYA (@ekizilkaya) July 16, 2016
I have managed to broadcast two Facebook live videos as I was escaping the putschists. It’s here https://t.co/ilNsj1hpem
— Emre KIZILKAYA (@ekizilkaya) July 16, 2016