Turkish broadcasting board punishes CNN joint venture

By Associated Press, 2/18/2000 10:06

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/049/world/Turkish_broadcasting_board_pun:.sh
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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Turkey's state broadcasting board has ordered a one-day
blackout for CNN-Turk, a joint venture between CNN and a local media
company, as punishment for a news program the board called Kurdish
propaganda.

The 24-hour news channel will be punished for a question during a Jan. 13
round-table discussion program, the board decided Thursday night. During
the program, a questioner asked whether imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader
Abdullah Ocalan could eventually become a figure comparable to South
Africa's Nelson Mandela, who was freed after serving 27 years in jail for
struggling against apartheid.

It was not clear when the blackout would be imposed. CNN-Turk has yet to
receive official notification, spokeswoman Berna Kurekcioglu said.

CNN-Turk is a joint venture between Turner Broadcasting Systems
International, the company responsible for CNN's international commercial
operations, and Turkey's Dogan Medya Grubu, which owns mass-circulation
national newspapers Hurriyet and Milliyet and national TV station Kanal D.

The broadcasting board often yank televisions or radios off the air for
reports deemed threatening to the unity of the Turkish state.

The Turkish military has been fighting autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels in
the southeast for 15 years. Ocalan, the Kurdish leader, was sentenced in
June to hang for treason and separatism. The CNN-Turk program was broadcast
a day after the government postponed his execution pending a European court
review of his appeal.



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