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The International Press Institute (IPI) has released a written statement about the recent appointments to the executive board of the public broadcaster TRT by a Presidential decree of President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The IPI has noted that "TRT moves farther from objective coverage with new appointees Presidential decree appointed."
The IPI has warned that "the most recent appointments to the executive board of Turkey's state-run Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) by President Erdoğan risk a further loss of impartiality and push the public broadcaster to become an absolute state-propaganda outlet."
Speaking about the issue, IPI Turkey Programme Coordinator Renan Akyavaş has reminded the international community that "TRT was once the most respected media institution in Turkey thanks to its high-quality, diverse, and objective news," briefly adding the following:
"Unfortunately, its administration has been taken over by the government step-by-step via decrees or changes in its bylaws, which have turned it into an outlet whose primary mission is to spread state propaganda."
Accordingly, the IPI has called for a reversal of the appointments:
"We call for the 2018 decree on the appointment of TRT's administration to be overturned in order to restore the autonomous structure of TRT. It is absolutely essential for TRT to have independently elected board members in order to regain its autonomous and impartial broadcasting policy."
NOTE: You can access the current Media Ownership and Concentration data on Turkey on the website of the Media Ownership Monitor: https://turkey.mom-rsf.org/en/media/
What happened?
On July 14, TRT's entire executive board was replaced by a Presidential decree, which also increased the number of board members from seven to nine (due in part to a decision to split the role of executive board chair and TRT managing director, which was previously held by one person).
Most of the newly appointed names are known for their close relations to the government and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), including the son of the current Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Bilgin and pro-government Sabah columnist Hilal Kaplan.
As indicated by the IPI in its statement, "Kaplan's columns have been known to spread misleading information or disinformation against government critics, including journalists." The new appointments have created a public outcry due to the members' perceived affiliations.
While Prof. Ahmet Albayrak has been appointed as the new TRT Executive Board Chair, the new members have been announced as follows: Prof. Mehmet Zahid Sobacı, Assoc. Prof. Oğuz Göksu, Atakan Yılmaz, Mücahid Eker, Assoc. Prof. Oğuzhan Bilgin, Hilal Kaplan Öğüt, Meryem İlayda Atlas Çetin and Assoc. Prof. Veysel Kurt.
About the TRT
TRT was founded in 1964 as an autonomous broadcaster with a mission to deliver the public objective and impartial news. It operates more than 15 TV channels, including ones broadcasting in Kurdish and Arabic. On July 2, 2018, right before the two-year-long State of Emergency expired on July 18, Presidential Decree no. 703 was passed, providing for the appointment of TRT executive board members by the president. (SD)
