News - Turkey authorities shut down radio station where one of guests mentioned Armenian Genocide

Istanbul-based Acik Radyo (Open Radio) radio station announced it was being shut down by the Turkish authorities, six months after a guest talked about the Armenian genocide on air, reports AFP. But it has vowed to fight on and find a way to keep working. The sanctions came after a guest on a show in April called the 1915 killings of Armenians in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire “genocide.” It is a term many historians agree on but which Turkey fiercely disputes. Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog RTUK had already suspended Acik Radyo from broadcasting for five days in May for the program in question, which it said incited hatred. The media regulator withdrew the station’s license in July, but the radio had been broadcasting until now. The Turkish authorities refuse to recognize the mass killings and exile of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923 as genocide. Turkey is ranked in 158th place out of 180 countries in its index of press freedom this year. Acik Radyo has been on the air since 1995.