Turkey’s media watchdog has imposed a broadcasting ban and a fine on an opposition-affiliated TV station over remarks made during a political commentary program, Turkish Minute reported.
The move coincided with Press Day, marked on July 24 in Turkey to commemorate the end of official press censorship in 1908.
The sanctions were announced on social media by İlhan Taşcı, a member of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). According to Taşcı, RTÜK issued a five-day broadcasting ban and a fine amounting to 5 percent of last month’s advertising revenue to TELE1 due to comments made by its editor-in-chief, Merdan Yanardağ.
Yanardağ had reportedly described a July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Turkey as “an Islamist coup” and claimed that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was primarily responsible for the events, which claimed the lives of 250 people and injured more than a thousand, prompting accusations of “inciting hatred and enmity among the public.”
Immediately after the failed coup the government, along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, pinned the blame on the faith-based Gülen movement. The movement, inspired by the views of the late Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, strongly denies any involvement in the coup attempt.
Taşcı criticized the move as an attempt to suppress critical journalism. “What they want is to silence the truth. Their goal is to suppress the press and plunge the screens into darkness,” he said in a tweet.
Taşcı also warned that if TELE1 receives another sanction under the same provision within a year, the station could face permanent license revocation.
According to local media reports, RTÜK also issued fines to TELE1 and Halk TV over comments made by CHP group deputy chairman Ali Mahir Başarır regarding an ongoing crackdown targeting the main opposition party for nearly a year. Both stations were fined 3 percent of their annual revenue for remarks deemed by the council to be “insulting to individuals and institutions.”
CHP leader Özgür Özel slammed the RTÜK sanctions, saying they amounted to a punishment not for the broadcasters but for their audiences. He argued that the blackout penalties were not merely reactions to a few controversial remarks but rather part of a broader effort to silence critical media ahead of upcoming elections.
“This is the media leg of the attempt to suppress the will to change the government in the next free election,” Özel said, accusing authorities of seeking to exclude opposition channels like TELE1, Halk TV and SZC TV from the election period. He vowed to stand in full solidarity with the targeted broadcasters and to determinedly fight back.
The penalties come amid growing concerns over RTÜK’s independence, with critics accusing the council of acting as a tool to silence dissenting voices and enforce a pro-government media narrative.
Turkey ranks 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in May.
