Media watchdog investigates pro-gov't broadcaster for typo said to be 'attacking Atatürk'
Turkey's media watchdog launched an investigation into pro-government news broadcaster Akit TV for a typo that is said to be "disrespecting the Turkish Republic and Atatürk." The broadcaster misspelled the name of Atatürk's resting place in a way that meant "bray-tomb."
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Turkey's Radio and Television High Council (RTÜK) launched an investigation on Aug. 31 into pro-government news broadcaster Akit TV for a typo that the council said disrespected and attacked the Turkish Republic and its founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
The channel was broadcasting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Atatürk's resting place Anıtkabir on August 30, National Victory Day, when a typo occurred in the on-screen caption, reading "Anırkabir" instead of "Anıtkabir."
The word "Anırkabir" means "bray-tomb" whereas the correct name "Anıtkabir" means "monument-tomb." The typo was considered offensive by some as "donkey" is an insult in Turkish.
RTÜK member from main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İlhan Taşçı said that the broadcaster's explanation that the typo was erroneous wasn't acceptable and requested an investigation to be launched into the incident.
Taşçı said that if this "error" is ignored, then "broadcasters that have explicit issues with the Republic will be encouraged even further."
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy cahri Hidayet Vahapoğlu also slammed the typo in a tweet in which he said "this was no error."
Upon Taşçı's statement that "protecting the public from hate speech" is one of RTÜK's main duties, the council said on Aug. 31 that an investigation was launched into the incident.