İstanbul-based independent broadcaster Açık Radyo (Open Radio) has applied to Turkey’s Constitutional Court, claiming that the revocation of its terrestrial broadcasting license in 2024 violated freedom of expression, press freedom and its right to a fair trial, the Bianet news website reported.
The case stems from an on-air reference to the mass killings of Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire as genocide and has raised concerns about the Radio and Television Supreme Council’s (RTÜK) use of licensing powers against critical media outlets over speech on one of Turkey’s most politically sensitive historical issues.
The application follows a Council of State ruling upholding a decision by RTÜK to cancel the station’s license over its failure to implement a five-program suspension.
Açık Radyo says the suspension was not carried out because an electronic attachment specifying the broadcast dates could not be opened due to a technical problem. The station says it notified RTÜK but received no response before the regulator revoked its license.
In its application the station also alleges violations of the public’s right to receive information and the constitutional principle of proportionality.
“The Council of State ruling, which offered not a single reason for rejecting our claims, approved the arbitrariness and unlawfulness of the RTÜK decision, which constitutes a serious interference with freedom of expression and thought and disregards society’s right to information,” Açık Radyo said.
It warned that the ruling posed a risk to freedom of expression and legal certainty for broadcasters and the public.
“For this reason, we will continue our legal struggle to the end,” the station said.
The case stems from an April 24, 2024, broadcast in which a guest referred to commemorations of the mass killings of Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire as an “Armenian genocide commemoration” and used the phrase “referred to as genocide.”
Turkey rejects the characterization of the mass killings as genocide, arguing that both Turks and Armenians died during conflict and unrest in World War I.
RTÜK imposed the maximum administrative fine on Açık Radyo and ordered the program suspended for five broadcasts on the grounds that the remarks incited hatred and hostility.
The station said it paid the fine but was unable to access an attachment to the electronically delivered decision that listed the dates of the suspensions.
Despite being informed of the problem, RTÜK revoked Açık Radyo’s terrestrial broadcasting license on July 3, 2024, saying the station had failed to comply with the suspension order.
Açık Radyo argued that the license was canceled without its defense being heard and without consideration of the technical failure.
Lower courts rejected the station’s challenges, and the Council of State later upheld those rulings, prompting the application to the Constitutional Court.
Açık Radyo’s terrestrial broadcasts ended on October 16, 2024, after nearly three decades on the air. The station resumed broadcasting online the following month under the name Apaçık Radyo, which means “more open radio.”
Founded in 1995, Açık Radyo was known for programs on human rights, minority issues, culture, climate change and the environment.
Its closure drew criticism from press freedom groups and civil society organizations in Turkey and abroad amid a continuing decline in media freedom.
Turkey ranks 163rd out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2026 World Press Freedom Index.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
