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Turkey extends state of emergency for another three months, closes down Kurdish media

TV channel broadcasting Smurfs, Sponge Bob among targeted media · Broadcasters' offices raided, sealed by police

Author: Zarok TV
The Turkish government will extend for another three months a state of emergency approved shortly after the attempted coup of July 15. The goal, government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said, is to eliminate "terrorist organizations" operating in Turkey. This includes, according to Ankara, the Gülen movement, but also the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). In parallel, the Turkish government is closing down more than 20 Kurdish and left-wing Turkish TV and radio stations, accusing them of promoting subversive activities.

The Turkish government had previously closed down media reportedly linked to businessman and cleric Fetullah Gülen, whom Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames for having organized the coup.

Furthermore, in August, a Turkish court had closed down the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem for allegedly spreading "terrorist propaganda". Ankara has now moved on to extend the wipe-out to Kurdish broadcasters.

It is noteworthy that among the closed-down channels there is one that just broadcasts children's cartoons, Zarok TV. Speaking to Al-Monitor, channel coordinator Dilek Demiral expressed her astonishment: "We are a cartoon channel. We broadcast cartoons from the Cartoon Network and similar channels after dubbing them into Kurdish and Zazaki. Those include the Smurfs, Garfield and Sponge Bob. How could we possibly engage in separatist and subversive activities?", she said.

According to Al-Monitor, among the other channels taken off the air one can find stations broadcasting news in Kurdish. It appears that only channels broadcasting music videos have been spared from closure.

Similarly, Med Nuçe TV has been suspended by Eutelsat, a French satellite operator. Ankara argues Med Nuçe is the PKK's unofficial mouthpiece. In a statement, the Med Nuçe board has blamed Eutelsat for being "complicit with [Erdogan's] repression" against the media.

"After silencing much of the critical press, Turkey is now targeting a wide swath of cultural and political expression by shuttering minority broadcasters," Commitee for the Protection of Journalists deputy executive director Robert Mahoney said. The Committee has for months being reporting on events in Turkey related to press freedom. "When the government sees even children's programming as a threat to national security, it is clearly abusing its emergency powers."

Police raids

Amed-based JINHA news agency reports on police raids taking place in the offices of Azadî TV, Jiyan TV, Zarok TV, Özgür TV and Özgür Radio. Their offices have been sealed, according to the report.