Turkish State Attacks Med-TV Sateli

[greenscreen at gn.apc.org]

From: greenscreen (Umit OZTURK)
Subject: Turkish State Attacks Med-TV Satelite Dish Owners

LONDON: 5 February 1997




   Turkish State Attacks Med-TV Satellite Dish Owners

The Turkish authorities have stepped up harassment of  viewers of Med-TV,
the  Kurdish language satellite broadcaster, which broadcasts under licence
from London.  Med-TV calls on the European Union to condemn this violation
of freedom of expression.

Blocking the reception of Med-TV within Turkey reportedly led the agenda at
the 27 January  meeting of Turkey's National Security Council. On 30
January, the Ankara Security Directorate demanded the names of the buyers
of satellite dishes from electronic equipment shop owners. Police are now
checking the direction of dishes to identify the audience of Med-TV. This
follows weeks of increasing intimidation of Med viewers in Kurdish-speaking
areas such as the Suruc District in Urfa.

Leading Turkish intellectuals expressed outrage. The lawyer of the Istanbul
Human Rights Association, Ercan Kanar, said that Turkey's actions had no
justification under international law. 

Med -TV's Director, Hikmet Tabak, said, "The right to receive information
and opinions freely, in all media, and without regard to borders, is laid
out in the International  Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
to which Turkey is a signatory. It is sad to see Turkey's renewed efforts
to join the European Union coincide with this attack on key European
values: freedom of the press and cultural diversity."

Scandals concerning high-level government involvement in death squads and
drug dealing have rocked Turkey in recent months. Med's London office
commented, "The government mistakenly believes that it can deal with a
crisis of public confidence by silencing the media. We urge Turkey's
friends in the European Union to point out  the uselessness of this tactic.
This new departure from the human rights commitments which Turkey undertook
at the time of accession to customs union with Europe is a disaster." 

Med-TV is aKurdish language TV satellite station. It is privately owned and
funded and its goal is the promotion and preservation of the Kurdish
language and culture.


Med-TV's website is: http:/ www. med-tv.be/med

posted by:
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     |  Umit Ozturk, Editor, Green Screen News          |  
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