'Radio, TV Supreme Council Needs to be Changed into an Autonomous Structure'

* Photo: Pixabay and RTÜK logo

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After İlhan Taşçıer, a member of the Radio and Television Council's (RTÜK) Supreme Board from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), prepared a report on the penalties imposed by the RTÜK in the last one and a half year, the anti-democratic and favoring attitude of the Council has once again become a burning issue on the public agenda.

CLICK - Turkey's Media Authority Issued 39 Fines in 1.5 Years, 36 of Them were for Critical Outlets

According to the report prepared by CHP's İlhan Taşçıer, the channels that are critical of the government have been fined for 11 million lira in total in addition to several other program suspensions.

However, neither the "death list" remarks recently uttered by Sevda Noyan on pro-government Ülke TV and by Fatih Tezcan in his Youtube channel, nor the remarks of Prof. Mutallip Kutluk Özgüven about the marriage and childbearing of children at the ages of 13-16 on Akit TV, another pro-government channel, have yet been penalized by the RTÜK.

All these factors have led to further debates about why pro-government platforms are not subjected to similar sanctions.

Within this context, we have spoken with Assoc. Prof. Ceren Sözeri from Galatasaray University Faculty of Communication and Erol Önderoğlu, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Representative to Turkey.

'Critical media made to pay an economic price'

Sözeri notes that the frequency and amount of fines given to critical media outlets have increased and underlines that it is not only limited to the RTÜK as it is also the case for the Press Advertisement Institution (BİK).

Sözeri defines this attitude as "making the critical media pay an economic price" and reminds us that it is, in fact, not something new:

"In the past, we also saw that the RTÜK took a more partial attitude towards some channels. But, in the recent period, there has been an action taken by the state which is defined as oppositional.

"In fact, last week, President [and ruling AKP Chair Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan said that a vast majority of the society watch the channels supporting the CHP and something needs to be done about it. Shortly after these remarks of Erdoğan, Halk TV, Tele 1 and Fox TV were fined.

"While this is the case for critical channels, there is impunity for the media close to the government. There is a serious imbalance between the fines imposed on the critical media and the pro-government ones.

"Besides, any statement that contains violence or incites people to use violence are banned. Any prosecutor can launch an ex officio investigation into Sevda Noyan's remarks. There are all these concrete elements, but there is neither a fine, nor an investigation.

'Functioning of the RTÜK must be transparent'

Sözeri underlines that the RTÜK is completely under the control of pro-government Sabah-ATV (Turkuvaz) group. She also reminds us of the words of RTÜK Chair Ebubekir Şahin, who said that he took instructions from Erdoğan. Ethical values are disregarded, says Sözeri and adds:

"The RTÜK first gives the penalty, asks for its implementation and tells you that you can object if you want. But once the penalty is put into effect, there remains no sense in raising an objection."

Sözeri also shares the following information about the structure of the RTÜK and its Supreme Board consisting of political party representatives:

"The members of the Supreme Board are determined based on the number of MPs that the political parties have in the Parliament. There are currently 4 members from the [ruling] AKP, 2 members from the [allying] MHP, 2 members from the CHP and 1 member from the HDP. In its current state, the structure of the RTÜK is already problematic in itself.

"In order for the members to able to take a decision, the votes of 5 people are necessary. In the event that the AKP and MHP members act together, they can take the decisions they want.

"Besides, the membership of Faruk Bildirici was dropped in this institution. It was done because Bildirici unveiled that RTÜK Chair Şahin also held office in the boards of directors of the BİK and TÜRKSAT.

"In the following period, the CHP could not pursue active politics for the re-election of Bildirici. Onur Konuralp was elected in his place, but I do not even know whether he has taken office or not. I have not heard any statements by him anywhere. As for the HDP's member Ali Ürküt, we have only heard that he submitted a petition to request a debate on Sevda Noyan.

"Yes, as the opposition has been pushed into a corner about everything and as the government puts pressure from all sides, it may have left the sphere of media politics unattended. The RTÜK may be doing whatever it wants. But, the opposition must now transparently reveal how the RTÜK is being operated by the government against itself and how the decision-making processes work. That was what Faruk Bildirici was doing."

'It needs to have an autonomous structure'

RSF Representative Erol Önderoğlu underlines that the RTÜK is acting in an anti-democratic manner and contrary to the law. 

Önderoğlu says that he has never witnessed a single consistent statement by RTÜK Chair Şahin about the right of criticism, media diversity and right of information. He notes that if the RTÜK is not given an autonomous structure, the screens will be entirely closed to the critical public opinion.

Defining the political transformation of the council as the "seizure of democratic institutions," Önderoğlu states the following:

"As in the case of all sectors, the government is imposing its ideology, which shapes the Presidential Government System, on media circles through such institutions as the RTÜK, BİK and through press cards.

"RTÜK Chair Şahin, who has not uttered a single consistent remark about the right of criticism, media diversity and right of information, said that 'they accept the instruction of President as an order,' which has shown us what kind of a monist vision the RTÜK is now serving while it needs to be an autonomous and independent council.

"If the RTÜK, where partisanship rather than democratic rights have been prevailing, is not provided with an autonomous structure, screens will be entirely closed to critical public opinion very soon.

"After the local elections on March 31, 2019, the RTÜK, which assumes an anti-democratic and unlawful function, is apparently taking on a political balancing role in favor of the 'President's Alliance' to bring the critical channels to their knees. Seen in this light, the attempts to overwhelm the channels such as Fox TV, Halk TV and Tele 1 with unproportional and arbitrary penalties cannot be considered mere coincidences.

"The political transformation experienced by the institutions such as the RTÜK and BİK, which are expected to operate in an autonomous and democratic manner, can be defined as the 'seizure of democratic institutions'." (HA/SD)