Turkey's media authority head also appointed as a board member at state-run bank

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Ebubekir Şahin, the chair of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), has been appointed as a board member at the state-run Halkbank.

He was also a board member of TÜRKSAT, the state-owned satellite communications company but resigned in November 2019 after facing public criticism.

Şahin also holds a seat at the Press Advertisement Institution (BİK), a government agency responsible for placing public advertisements in newspapers.

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The monthly salary he gets from the three public agencies is about 30,000 lira (~4,380 USD), main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) MP and Parliaentary Committee on Public Enterprises member Atilla Sertel stated yesterday (July 22). Şahin earns 15,000 lira from the RTÜK, 12,500 lira from Halkbank and 6,000 lira per meeting from the BİK, he said.

His additional duties and income were preventing Şahin from acting impartially as the RTÜK chair, which was demonstrated by the fines the RTÜK imposed on Halk TV and Tele 1 TV, Setel noted.

Article 38/2 of the RTÜK law prohibits the council members from "assuming any public or private duty." (HA/VK)