İlhan Taşcı, a member of the official censor department, announced that the bureau, RTÜK, imposed fines on three opposition TV channels: “If you are on the side of the government, you are ‘neutral’; if you are against it, you are violating impartiality!”
Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) member İlhan Tasci announced that Fox TV, Halk TV, and Tele1 were fined three percent separately of their incomes. Reacting to the decision, Taşcı said, “According to RTÜK, if you are on the side of the government, you are ‘neutral,’ and if you are against it, you are violating impartiality!”
The penalties announced by Taşcı are as follows:
RTÜK fined Fox TV 3% for criticizing the government’s understanding of women and their participation in life as ‘not to read, to stay at home, to have children’ by the main news anchor Gülbin Tosun. According to RTÜK, if you are on the side of the government, you are ‘neutral,’ and if you are against it, you are violating impartiality!
RTÜK also fined Halk TV 3% for preventing the formation of free opinions for evaluating the news of ‘crane-lift commerce in the earthquake zone’ with guest Turgut Kazan. Ayşenur Arslan presented the program and showed how the lack of equipment after the earthquake caused many unnecessary deaths. The host and the guest criticized the contradictory reporting on the number of deaths.
RTÜK considered Merdan Yanardag and Prof. Dr. Emre Kongar’s criticism of the Şanlıurfa Municipality for transferring the aid sent from abroad to Afghanistan to the Taliban as humiliating the municipality. The criticism of this corruption was aired in the program “18 Minutes.” The broadcasting Tele1 channel also fined 1 3% of their income.
Halk TV reacted to the sentence by saying, “RTÜK wants elections without Halk TV.”
Tele1 said, “Merdan Yanardag criticized the aid to the Taliban, RTÜK imposed fines.”
MB Sendika.Org News
