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Presidential election in Turkey: opposition channels accused of "insulting the public" during the campaign

Who will be surprised to learn, a few days after the re-election of President Erdogan, the questioning of the Turkish opposition media for their coverage of the elections? The Superior Audiovisual Council (RTÜK), close to the ruling party, announced on Tuesday the opening of an investigation against six opposition channels for their coverage of the second round, which took place on Sunday May 28.

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Presidential election in Turkey: opposition channels accused of "insulting the public" during the campaign

Who will be surprised to learn, a few days after the re-election of President Erdogan, the questioning of the Turkish opposition media for their coverage of the elections? The Superior Audiovisual Council (RTÜK), close to the ruling party, announced on Tuesday the opening of an investigation against six opposition channels for their coverage of the second round, which took place on Sunday May 28. The body indicated the heads of "insult to the public" and "denigration of the people" following, he said, complaints from viewers themselves in connection with the election night, without giving further details.

The channels concerned, including Fox TV, TELE1 and Halk TV, are used to complaints of this kind, usually followed by fines. The RTÜK, supposed to be “autonomous and impartial” according to Turkish legislation, is made up of members elected by parliament where the pro-Erdogan have the majority. In 2022, the body imposed 54 sanctions on five of these same independent broadcasters, for a total amount of more than 820,000 euros. Pro-government channels received just four in the same period, according to free speech group Article 19.

This announcement comes at the same time as the OSCE publishes a report highlighting the flagrant inequality of campaign conditions between the candidates, particularly in the media. "As in the first round, biased media coverage and the absence of a level playing field gave an unfair advantage to the incumbent president", established the European observers in a report published on May 29. "Public broadcasters have significantly favored (President Erdogan), despite constitutional guarantees of his impartiality."

In particular, the difference in airtime was stark. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) did the math. Between April 1 and May 1, 2023, Recep Tayyip Erdogan received 60 times more media coverage than his main rival Kemal Kiliçdaroglu on the public channel TRT Info. “Together, this is equivalent to 32 hours of air time for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, against 32 minutes for Kemal Kiliçdaroglu”, specifies RSF.

For example, two days of the first round of the presidential election, the outgoing president spoke in a 1h30 program broadcast jointly by fourteen television channels (including A Haber, 24 TV, TV100, Akit TV). The candidate for a third successive term has “multiplied the attacks and accusations against his main rival, without the latter being able to benefit from the slightest right of reply”, points out RSF.

The Turkish constitution does, however, provide that public channels have equal airtime. Thus Article 13 of the Elections Law: "In times of propaganda, impartiality and equality of time in broadcasting programs on Turkish Radio and Television shall be ensured by The Supreme Electoral Council and the Institute Turkish radio and television”, it is indicated.

From a regime that ranks 165th out of 180 in RSF's 2023 press freedom index, the sanctions against private channels were predictable. “We expected a hardening of the regime after the elections, because Erdogan and his entourage are very revengeful, explains Samim Akgönül, teacher-researcher at the University of Strasbourg and at the CNRS. All those who supported, in one way or another, his opponent will be sanctioned, in a more or less long period of time.

The opposition candidate, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, referred to this election as the “most unfair” for years in Turkey. “State channels played on the fact that Erdogan was president. Given the conditions and the means at his disposal, the 48% obtained by Kiliçdaroglu is a feat,” said Samim Akgönül.

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