Turkish state agency launches investigation into Basak Demirtas interview
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The Turkish state media monitoring agency RTUK (Radio and Television Supreme Council) launched an investigation on Wednesday into comments made by Basak Demirtas, the wife of jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas, during an interview with the Turkish Fox channel.
FOX yayın kuruluşunda bugün gerçekleşen bir programda konuk Başak Demirtaş’ın sözleri ve açıklamaları nedeniyle 6112 sayılı Kanun çerçevesinde inceleme başlatılmıştır. pic.twitter.com/XjelNh2KAb
— RADYO VE TELEVİZYON ÜST KURULU (@rtukkurumsal) October 6, 2021
On Wednesday morning, Basak Demirtas went on the Fox TV program Alarm Clock hosted by İsmail Küçükkaya. During her appearance, she spoke about the prison conditions of former HDP (People's Democratic Party) co-chair Selahattin Demirtas, who has remained imprisoned for almost five years despite two European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings calling for his release.
Read More: European court calls for 'immediate release' of Kurdish official jailed by Turkey for 4 years
"Before the pandemic, we could make three non-contacts visits and one contact visit in a month, but we have been unable to make a contact visit for 19 months," she told Fox TV, according to the independent Turkish news website BIAnet.
"Our daughters have been unable to hug their father for 19 months," she said. "We can make only two non-contact visits in a month."
"It is impossible to understand this. I am sorry to say this, but this situation has turned into an arbitrariness. Both Selahattin and I have been vaccinated. We are in a state to have a contact visit, but even a non-contact visit can be held twice a month," she added.
The interview took place on the seventh anniversary of the deadly Kobani protests on 6-8 October 2014, when Kurds across Turkey took to the streets over the Islamic State (ISIS) attack on the town of Kobani in Syrian Kurdistan.
Therefore, some pro-Turkish government media described the interview as a provocation.
Turkish state prosecutors earlier blamed HDP officials for "inciting violence" during these protests.