Turkey’s Supreme Audiovisual Council (RTUK) on Wednesday imposed sanctions on three Turkish TV channels for criticizing the government’s handling of the earthquake that struck the south of the country on February 6.
It concerns Halk TV, Tele 1 and Fox TV channels. They have to pay a fine and cancel the programs. Halk TV and Tele 1 were fined 5 percent of their January sales, while Fox TV was fined 3 percent of their monthly sales. Halk TV is banned from broadcasting for five days.
The three TV stations are known for their critical approach to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Halk TV is even accused of maintaining good relations with the main opposition party, CHP.
Censorship
The Turkish Journalists Syndicate accuses RTUK of censoring it. He is committing a crime by denying people their right to information. Turkey scores badly when it comes to freedom of the press, at the end of last year it approved prison sentences for publishing “false news”.
After the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria earlier this month, the Turkish government has already received a lot of criticism for its handling of the crisis. The response was particularly slow in the early days, when many people were still buried alive under collapsed buildings. According to the opposition Republican People’s Party, this slow approach has cost tens of thousands of lives.
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