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Turkish authorities have entered a new stage in their long campaign against
free Kurdish television and broadcasting in Northern Kurdistan (Turkey) by
successfully blocking one of the main Kurdish television stations
broadcasting from Denmark. According to a number of sources in Northern
Kurdistan, the Turkish Government has successfully blocked viewers in
Kurdistan from watching the Kurdish television station, ROJ TV.
Unconfirmed reports have stated that the Turkish Government appears to have
cut off access to the station by jamming satellite signals. The signal has
been completely blocked off in several cities throughout Northern Kurdistan
such as Elih (Batman), Riha (Sanli-Urfa), Culemerg (Hakkari), Veransher and
Gever (Yusekova). Other cities in both Kurdistan and western Turkey, such as
Istanbul and Izmir, have reportedly been experiencing very bad signals in
the past week. Experts claim that jamming transponders on a commercial
satellite is a relatively easy thing to do with the available modern
technology. Such a method effectively blocks satellite signals and disallows
viewers from watching satellite stations cut off.
Some anonymous sources commented that the blocking of ROJ TV is very
disturbing and appears to be a direct consequence of the constitutional and
legal regulations that do not allow free Kurdish broadcasting in Turkey.
Following recent pressures by the EU on Turkey to make democratic reform,
the Turkish Government has granted limited rights for broadcasting in the
Kurdish language by airing 45-minute programs on State Television every
week. Recently, a representative of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party
(DTP) and mayor of Culemerg, Matin Tekche, met with an EU delegation and
raised the issue that the beaming of ROJ TV in Kurdistan is constantly
disrupted. Both the mayor and representatives of the Civil Society informed
the delegation about the importance of ROJ TV for the Kurdish viewers in the
area. The Turkish Government has responded by doing anything to try and shut
down the satellite station and the recent developments in their satellite
jamming are part of that campaign.
The Turkish Government has repeatedly demanded that Denmark revoke the
Kurdish station's broadcasting license and has claimed that ROJ TV has
connections with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The Danish
Government has refused to shut down ROJ TV but has agreed to investigate
whether the content of its programs is in line with the Danish legislation
of freedom of expression. Fifty-six mayors of the pro-Kurdish DTP have
signed a letter asking the Danish Government to resist pressure from the
Turkish Government on the issue of ROJ TV. The Turkish Government responded
by charging all mayors with providing assistance to the PKK by signing the
letter. If convicted in Turkish courts, the mayors could each face heavy
fines and/or up to 15 years in prison.
ROJ TV broadcasts in nine different languages and provides a range of
programs from news and happenings in Kurdistan to Kurdish music and
childrens shows. The station has denied having any links to the PKK and
continues to maintain that their broadcasts are important for Kurdish
viewers all over the world. In an official Danish statement, In April 2006,
the Danish Radio and TV Council made an official statement, responding on a
complaint from the Embassy of Turkey in Copenhagen over Roj TV, that it did
not find that Roj TV had broken Danish law, Roj TV's programming contained
no incitement to hatred of Turkey, and as such it could see no reason
whatsoever to stop Roj TV from broadcasting.
By Nezar Ahmet