Turkey Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) General Manager İbrahim Şahin responded through a written declaration to presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtaş’s criticism about TRT’s broadcast not featuring him and presidential candidate Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu.
Şahin said that they would cut the live broadcast should accusations targeting TRT continue, according to Cumhuriyet Newspaper’s news item, and added:
“All segments of society closely follow the presidential race and form their decisions based on correct information.
“Our nation is bearing witness to how those who see themselves as already beaten in the race resort to the cunning of creating excuses at our expense.
“Everybody must carry their own responsibility, and stop producing cheap justifications for their own failures using other people or institutions.
“Demirtaş’s speech in Aydın province is, to put it lightly, a misfortune. From now on, if these heavy accusations targeting TRT on live broadcast continue, we will cut the broadcast.
Demirtaş’s criminal complaint
Selahattin Demirtaş had filed a criminal complaint charging TRT with biased broadcasting, and requested prosecution to file a public action case against the authorities.
TRT broadcasts had also come up in the Radio Television Supreme Council’s (RTÜK) agenda, but RTÜK had decided with a majority vote of 4/5 that the Prime Minister could not be equals with other candidates, and decided against a punishment to TRT. (EKN/PU)
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