Politics

HDP condemns Turkey's suspension of Kurdistan Region channels

The pro-Kurdish party argued Ankara's move to drop K24, Rudaw and Waar TV from its satellite provider, Turksat, the day of the Kurdistan Referendum was a sign of "helplessness."

Ari Khalidi 2017/09/25 17:23

middle east KurdistanReferendum HDP

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) condemned on Monday a decision by Ankara's authorities to stop broadcasting three Kurdistan Region-based news channels, Kurdistan 24, Rudaw and Waar TV, from its national satellite provider Turksat.

In a statement on its website, the HDP criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, saying it continued to target press freedom despite calls to stop.

Ankara’s move to deny the news outlets an audience of some 20 million Kurds in Turkey came as the Kurdistan Region went ahead with its referendum on independence from Iraq.

Kurdistan 24 logo on the TV channel's headquarter in Erbil. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

The HDP said the decision taken by AKP and its far-right ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), through the Turkish state media regulator Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) was not legal but rather "purely" political.

"This is a means of pressure. This is a hostile attitude toward the Kurdish people and Kurdish language media," the HDP added, slamming the decision as a move that would polarize Turkish society and lead to enmity.

"The decision to take Kurdistan Region's Rudaw, K24, and Waar off Turksat is a severe blow to the freedom of the press, broadcasting, and communication," the statement read.

"The fact that these TV channels have been taken down from Turksat the day the Kurdish people went to the ballot box to reflect its will demonstrated how helpless the [Turkish] government is," said HDP.

In a written notification, RTUK told Kurdistan 24's Ankara bureau that the Kurdish channel's content was "a threat to the indivisibility of the country and public order as they were broadcasting against the Republic of Turkey."

The HDP, a target of a government crackdown which has seen the party's Co-leader Selahattin Demirtas, ten lawmakers, 80 mayors, and thousands of members imprisoned over the past year, called on authorities to cancel the ban on the Kurdish news broadcasters.

Editing by G.H. Renaud