I'm an independent publisher, I don't have to be pro-gov't: Ayd?n Do?an

Ayd?n Do?an, the founder and honorary chairman of Do?an Holding, has said that Turkey?s largest media group ?does not have to be pro-government,? amid rising pressure and violence targeting the company and its workers.Ayd?n Do?an, the founder and honorary chairman of Do?an Holding, has said that Turkey?s largest media group ?does not have to be pro-government,? amid rising pressure and violence targeting the company and its workers. 

Stressing that he has been a media owner for almost 40 years, Do?an said this is the first time he has seen journalists face such attacks.

He was speaking after visiting daily Hürriyet columnist and CNN Türk program host Ahmet Hakan on Oct. 3, after Hakan was injured in an assault by four men in front of his home on Oct. 1. Both Hürriyet and CNN Türk are owned by the Do?an Media Group.

?My media group is the most careful media group in covering news about [President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an] and his family. But we are independent. I don?t have to be pro-government, but I?m also not anti-government,? Do?an told journalists.

?This government does not accept independent media. It considers anyone not siding with it as its foe,? he added.

Do?an Holding?s media outlets and its journalists have been physically assaulted and threatened ahead of the upcoming snap election on Nov. 1. Hürriyet?s Istanbul headquarters were pelted with stones by mobs on Sept. 6 and Sept. 8 and a number of its journalists have received death threats.

Turkey?s national press bodies, as well as foreign officials and international journalism associations, have described the attacks as a part of a wider campaign to intimidate Do?an Media and its journalists. Opposition parties have accused Erdo?an and the Justice...