Turkish authorities closes radio station after suspension over Armenian genocide remark

An independent radio station named Açık Radyo in Istanbul has shut down after Turkey's media watchdog revoked its terrestrial license over remarks made by a guest regarding the Armenian genocide.

Friday October 18 2024 02:44 am

Reuters

An independent radio station in Istanbul has shut down after Turkey's regulator cancelled its terrestrial broadcasting license after it failed to comply with a suspension order over comments made by a guest on the genocide of Armenians.

"With its 30th broadcasting anniversary only a month away, this news has been the latest blow to freedom of speech and media in Turkey," Açık Radyo (Open Radio) said in a written statement on Oct 16.

The station was suspended in May and fined after a guest, speaking on April 24, referred to the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as genocide.

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), Turkey's radio and television watchdog, said at the time that the station had made no attempt to correct the guest's remarks, which constituted incitement to hatred and hostility.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide.

Commemorations are held around the world each April 24 for the killings, that many countries recognize as genocide.

In June, Açık Radyo said it failed to comply with RTUK's suspension order due to an error in the National Electronic Notification System (UETS), a state body that sends notifications to individuals.

"When the problem was identified, a letter was sent to RTÜK explaining the technical problem. However, they decided to revoke the license in July without responding to our petition," it said.

An administrative court ordered a stay of execution of RTÜK's decision in July and lifted it last month. The station's broadcast license was cancelled on Oct. 11. RTÜK has not specifically said why.

"Revoking the license, regardless of the reason, is definitely an attempt to silence the public voice," Ömer Madra, co-founder and the editor-in-chief of Açık Radyo, told reporters on Oct. 16 after the radio went off the air.