17 March 2016 Last updated at 13:38 GMT
"I would have never had imagined that Erdogan and the AKP government would have come this far," said Sevgi Akarcesme.
Asked whether the European Union is doing enough in response to alleged abuses of democracy in Turkey, she said that while individual politicians were still committed to EU values, the institution was failing.
"European leaders are giving Erdogan opportunities on golden plates," she added.
A Turkish court put Zaman newspaper - a vocal critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - under state control earlier this month. No explanation was given for the court's decision.
Zaman is closely linked to the Hizmet movement of influential US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Turkey says is a "terrorist" group aiming to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.
Mr Gulen was once an ally of Mr Erdogan but the two fell out. Many Hizmet supporters have been arrested.
Watch the full interview on BBC World News and BBC News Channel on Thursday 17 March 2016 or watch on BBC iPlayer (UK only)
Turkey is going through "a civilian coup d'etat", the editor-in-chief, of English language newspaper Today's Zaman has told BBC HARDtalk.