Today, December 25, 2020 … days before 2021, Turkey has become a country where every dissident voice is suppressed, freedom of expression has bottomed out, journalists and broadcasting agents have been closed down, confiscated and bought by government supporters. Another instance of this happened in front of everyone.
Olay TV, which began broadcasting on November 30, ended its broadcasting life. The TV channel, which employs 180 TV people, journalists and press workers, had claims that only ‘we will do neutral reporting’. Were they able to make these claims in 26 days? It is also unknown, but the AKP government in Turkey could not tolerate it, a television channel broadcasting alongside dozens of televisions.
First, they gave the channel a list of supporters secretly in order to make them appointed as trustees. Then they ordered the firing of workers they did not like. When the result could not be obtained, they put pressure on the well-known businessman Cavit Çağlar, one of the television partners. Çağlar couldn’t take it any longer and broke the deal.
In fact, this incident also showed that there is a media order in Turkey that cannot even broadcast the resignation of a minister, and it is desired to keep on like this.
The position of Erdogan and his government in the name of international press freedom and Human Rights is obvious. Turkey’s government has added another file to its black record on media freedom. As International Journalists, we wish bliss to the 180 workers who were victims of the incident on TV and the people of Turkey whose rights to receive news were violated once again. And we condemn the AKP regime’s attack on press freedom.
International Journalists
