State-owned Turkish Satellite Communications Company (Türksat) has ceased satellite distribution of IMC TV at the order of an Ankara public prosecutor.
According to the prosecutor it was “detected that the IMC TV spread propaganda” in favour of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK). Several hours after the written notice issued by the prosecutor, the channel went off air, according to Today’s Zaman.
The ?MC TV group rejected the accusations on its official Twitter account, while ?MC News Coordinator Faruk Eren condemned the notice, saying, “The situation of freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Turkey is miserable.”
?MC TV is not the first private TV channel to be taken off the air on government order. In November Türksat dropped Bugün TV and Kanaltürk,. Other TV and radio stations removed so far from Türksat are Samanyolu TV, the Samanyolu Haber news channel, Samanyolu TV Europe, Samanyolu Africa, Mehtap TV, Yumurcak TV, MC TV, Dünya TV, Tuna Shopping TV, Irmak TV, MC EU, Ebru TV, Samanyolu Haber Radio, Burç FM, Radyo Mehtap, Dünya Radyo, Radyo Berfin and Radyo Cihan.
