Turkey's key media group to be sold to pro-Erdoğan business

ANKARA – Turkey's largest media group says it is in talks with a pro-government business group for the sale of its outlets, a development that further curtails independent journalism in the country.

In a note to Turkey's capital markets board on Thursday, Dogan Holding said it was negotiating the sale of outlets—including flagship Hurriyet newspaper, the mass-circulation daily Posta, CNN-Turk and Kanal D television channels and Dogan New Agency—to Demiroren Holding.

Dogan news outlets have been among the few relatively independent media in Turkey which is dominated by TV stations and newspapers close to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Turkish leader has further tightened his grip on media since a failed military coup in 2016. More than 150 journalists have been arrested and hundreds of media outlets closed down.