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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000126 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: LOCAL TV STATIONS APPLY TO BROADCAST IN KURDISH 
 
REF: A. A)  ANKARA 3236 
     ¶B. B)  ADANA 00119 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: At least four local television stations - three 
in Diyarbakir and one in Batman - have applied to Turkey's Radio 
and Television Board (RTUK) for the right to broadcast 
Kurdish-language programs.  RTUK has acknowledged the 
applications and claims it is reviewing them in consultation 
with other government entities.  A Gun TV representative stated 
that if approved, the broadcasts would be two times per week for 
45 minutes each.  Concurrent to this review process, a September 
1 RTUK press release announced that Gun TV would be shut down 
for one month some time in September due to a December 2003 
broadcast that was "against the values of Ataturk, against the 
unity of the state, and against the nation's existence and 
independence."  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) At least four local television stations have applied to 
Turkey's Radio and Television Board (RTUK) for the right to 
broadcast Kurdish-language news and cultural programs.  A reform 
package passed in 2002 initially paved the way for such 
applications, allowing for broadcasting in "languages and 
dialects traditionally used in daily life by Turkish citizens." 
Nearly two years after the reforms were passed, the state-run 
national TRT channel initiated programming in Kurdish and other 
minority languages (Ref A).  Now local channels are waiting to 
see if they will be authorized to do the same. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Three of the local station applicants, Gun TV, ART, 
and Soz TV, are located in Diyarbakir.  The fourth, Cagri TV, 
opened in Batman in 1994 and is that city's only local 
television station.  Gun TV's General Manager told poloff on 
September 3 that his station had originally applied in March 
2004 for permission to air Kurdish-language broadcasts, and when 
they did not receive any reply, they applied again.  After the 
second application, RTUK told them it was "being considered." 
Cagri TV applied in June after Kurdish language broadcasts 
started on TRT.  ART applied on August 23. 
 
RTUK:  Can we check your references? 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Cagri staff said they had heard a "positive signal" 
from RTUK in August, but had not received anything in writing. 
They were optimistic.  As of early September, however, the Gun 
TV representative had not received any communication from RTUK 
beyond acknowledgement that their applications were being 
reviewed.  In fact staff at Cagri TV and Gun TV seemed to be 
learning more about the status of their applications through the 
press than through official channels.  On August 20, for 
example, Milliyet reported that RTUK had solicited the views of 
MIT (Turkey's intelligence service) and the Interior Ministry 
about the applications.  The Interior Ministry, via the relevant 
Governor's offices, reportedly confirmed that the language and 
dialects mentioned in the applications were spoken in their 
respective provinces.  [Note:  This confirmation likely fulfills 
a formality required by the official application process.  End 
Note.]  A Gun TV representative told poloff that if the 
station's application were approved, he believed it would be for 
two 45-minute Kurdish-language programs per week. 
 
Mixed Messages 
-------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) While the staff of Gun TV was encouraged that their 
application was being considered, they had just received notice 
a day before our September 3 meeting that they would soon be 
shut down for a month by RTUK for a live broadcast they aired 
previously.  In a September 1 RTUK press release, the Board gave 
notice that Gun TV would be shut down for a month (dates 
unspecified) for a broadcast that was "against the values of 
Ataturk, against the unity of the state, and against the 
nation's existence." 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The Gun General Director explained that the station 
had broadcast live coverage of a symposium on local 
administration, human rights and the media.  Symposium 
organizers had received the appropriate permission for the event 
from the Governor, and local government officials as well as at 
least one telephone participant based in Europe debated the 
issues in a panel format.  One of the participants gave a 
presentation in Kurdish with simultaneous translation into 
Turkish.  According to our contact, others on the panel who 
spoke in Turkish had more critical things to say about the 
government than did the Kurdish speaker, but he believes the 
combination of the language and the content led to the shutdown 
notice.  They expect the one-month penalty to start some time in 
September.  In response to this penalty, Gun's representative 
said, other media sources had announced Gun was being 
temporarily shut down for "broadcasting separatist material." 
"You would expect other journalists in Turkey to support us," he 
said, but the attitudes of some other media outlets made Gun 
staffers feel very "lonely." 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment:  The Turkish authorities are dragging their 
feet on these applications.  If any of the applications are 
approved, it will mark another step forward in implementation of 
Turkey's reform process.  It took two years from the passage of 
reforms for Kurdish language broadcasts on TRT to begin, and an 
equal amount of time, if not more, for the approval process 
allowing Kurdish language instruction centers to open (Ref B). 
There is a certain irony to Gun TV's application being reviewed 
in one RTUK hand, while the other orders a one-month shutdown. 
End comment. 
 
 
ALLISON