Turkey’s TELE1 TV channel has been blacked out for five days starting today (September 1), following a decision by Turkish media watchdog Radio and Television Board (RTÜK).
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| Opposition-leaning Turkish TV station hit with 5-day broadcast ban Opposition-leaning Turkish TV station hit with 5-day broadcast ban |
The ban relates to a segment aired in late-July on the channel, in which TELE1’s executive editor Merdan Yanardağ discussed 2016’s failed coup d’etat attempt.
In his remarks, Yanardağ described the failed putsch as “an Islamist coup attempt,” and continued saying: “The responsible party for this coup is the ruling AKP government.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has ruled Turkey since 2002.
The Gülen movement, an ally-turned-rival of Erdoğan’s AKP, has long been blamed for having orchestrated the coup attempt in 2016.
The blackout decision from RTÜK described Yanardağ’s comments as ‘inciting the public to hatred and animosity.’
TELE1 decision follows recent string of blackouts
RTÜK’s original decision to implement a five-day broadcast ban on TELE1 was first announced in late July, but the decision was blocked by a judge, although a financial penalty also requested by RTÜK was upheld.
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TELE1’s latest ban follows a string of broadcast blackouts imposed on opposition-leaning TV channels in Turkey. Sözcü TV was blacked out for 10 days starting July 8th while another channel, Halk TV, received the same penalty from RTÜK before the ban was paused by a judge.
Fatih Altaylı, a prominent independent journalist and YouTuber, was arrested in late June following comments made on a broadcast interpreted by authorities as having been threatening towards President Erdoğan.
TELE1, Sözcü TV, and Halk TV are some of the few opposition-linked channels remaining in Turkey, where around 90% of media ownership is linked to the ruling AKP government. Since 2013, Freedom House has classified Turkey as ‘not free’ due in part to an erosion in press freedom that followed 2013’s Gezi Park Protests and 2016’s failed coup attempt.
Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
