ANKARA (Sputnik) — In late May, the NYT editorial board accused the Turkish leader of cracking down on freedom of the media, after Erdogan's lawyers filed criminal complaints against editors of Turkish newspapers over news reports.
Erdogan told Turkish television in an interview Tuesday, as quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper:
"Do you know what their aim is? To weaken Turkey, to divide it and to disintegrate it and then to swallow it. But they failed to do so. We will not allow this."
Erdogan pointed out that the NYT would never allow itself to criticize the US authorities in a way they did with Turkish government officials.
The protests began as a response to issues including freedom of the press and the freedom to assemble and grew to involve over 3 million of Turkey's estimated 80 million population in over 5,000 separate events.
Western media have criticized Erdogan for excessive use of force in dispersing the demonstrations.
