Riot police firing tear gas and water cannon stormed two opposition-linked Turkish television stations and forced them off air on Wednesday, stoking deep concerns about media freedom just four days before a pivotal election, AFP reports.
"A dark day for Turkish democracy and freedom," declared the banner headline on the websites of the media companies targeted in the early morning raids in Istanbul.
Critics accuse the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of trying to silence opponents before Sunday's vote, in which his Justice and Development Party (AKP) is widely expected to fail to regain the parliamentary majority it lost in June.