Turkish authorities impose mass restrictions on media

Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council has suspended the broadcasting of Sözcü TV for 10 days for violating the law while covering mass protests in support of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is currently imprisoned.

“The Supreme Council deemed certain comments made by the TV channel as calls for ‘public incitement of hatred and hostility,’” the report states.

Additionally, the agency has banned the airing of five programs from Halk TV and Tele 1, while also imposing administrative fines on them.

Fines have also been applied to NOW TV and Ak ll TV channels. The leader of the Republican People’s Party, Özgür Özel, who represents İmamoğlu, condemned the decision to ban the TV channels, calling it a “gross violation of democratic norms and censorship.”