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Turkey
CHP Leader Ozgur Ozel showcasing a table of airtime given by the Turkish Radio and Television Cooperation (TRT) to his party's candidates against the candidates of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), inside the Turkish parliament in Ankara on February 27, 2024. Photo: Screengrab/CHP
ERBIL, Kurdistan - Turkey’s largest opposition party on Saturday announced that it had filed complaints against the state media agency over what it said was unfair allocation of airtime during the election campaign.
The Republican People's Party (CHP) filed complaints against the Turkish Radio and Television Cooperation (TRT) with the country’s electoral commission (YSK) and the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK), saying that the state media has become “increasingly biased, discriminatory, and unfair in its broadcasts,” Burhanettin Bulut, CHP vice president for media relations, announced in a written statement.
“We have no faith that the YSK and RTUK, who turn a blind eye to election injustice, will take any action. We only filed a complaint to record this disgrace of democracy, this lawlessness, in history,” Bulut said.
The party also filed a criminal complaint against the TRT executive with the public prosecutor’s office, he added.
Ankara’s state media often comes under heavy criticism during elections as opposition parties accuse state institutions of violating the principle of impartiality they were established on.
Last month CHP leader Ozgur Ozel slammed TRT during a speech at the parliament saying that the broadcaster has given virtually no screen time to his party’s candidates during the election campaign, while candidates of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) were granted significant screen time.
Ozel noted that since the beginning of the year, the state broadcasting agency has given 2,952 minutes for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and only 43 minutes for himself.
Turkey will hold local elections on March 31. Bulut said that during the campaign, TRT has refused to broadcast their advertisements, claiming to not have time slots available.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 90 percent of Turkey’s national media is under the control of the government, ensuring plenty of airtime for Erdogan and the AKP.
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