Turkey Accused of ‘Persecuting’ Critical Media Ahead of Key Elections

A group of international media organisations and rights groups in a joint statement have accused the Turkish broadcasting regulator of punishing critical reporting ahead of important general and presidential elections on May 14.

“Twenty press freedom, freedom of expression and human rights organizations call on Turkey’s broadcast regulator (RTUK) to immediately stop fining broadcasters for their critical reporting. Journalists and broadcasters must be allowed to do their jobs of informing the public over critical issues and holding the government to account,” the joint statement said on Thursday.

Twenty media and human rights organizations, including Freedom House, the International Press Institute, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, the International Federation of Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders, are involved in this initiative.

The Radio and Television Supreme Council, RTUK, is a state agency that monitors and sanctions radio and television broadcasts.

“Instead of upholding freedom of expression and media pluralism in the country, RTUK is being weaponized by the governing parties to silence legitimate criticism and provide them with an unfair advantage in the May 2023 elections. This suppression of public debate is undermining the electoral process,” the joint statement said.

In recent months, following devastating earthquakes in southern Turkey, RTUK has been increasingly penalising TV channels for their critical coverage of government policies and election processes.

“We view these incidents as part of the Turkish government’s systematic attempt to stifle critical reporting and to control the information flow ahead of Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14, 2023,” the statement said.

“We call on the Turkish broadcast regulator, RTUK, to immediately end the persecution of independent broadcasters and act according to its mandate to secure freedom of expression and media pluralism in the country.”

The opposition, experts and international rights groups have accused the RTUK of going all out to crush the remaining independent media and of acting as a tool of the authoritarian government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who faces the greatest challenge to his 21-year of rule in elections on May 14.

The joint statement highlighted that in 2022 alone, RTUK issued 54 penalties to five independent broadcasters totalling 17.335.000 Turkish Lira (approximately 823,000 euros) in fines. By contrast, government channels received four penalties totalling 1,674.000 TL (about 80,000 euros).

Turkey ranked in 153rd place out of 180 countries in 2022 in the latest press freedom index of watchdog organisation Reporters Without Borders, RSF, which classifies the Turkish government’s control over media outlets as high.