Bulent Kenes

A newspaper close to an Islamic cleric foe of Tayyip Erdogan said its editor had been remanded in custody ahead of trial on charges of insulting the Turkish president, fueling fears of a media clampdown ahead of a Nov. 1 election.

The English-language Today’s Zaman chief editor Bulent Kenes was detained at its Istanbul offices on Friday, Dogan news agency said, and sent to Metris jail in Istanbul by court order.

A crowd of around 200 people gathered at the offices of the paper and chanted support for Kenes on Friday as he was taken away over charges of insulting Erdogan on Twitter. Protesters held up banners saying “Free media cannot be silenced.”

Police and court officials were not immediately available to comment.

“They are trying to silence the media. This is not befitting Turkey. Our people will never accept this,” Kenes was reported as telling the assembled media.

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