İMC TV administration has protested the attacks with the following statement: “The closing of İMC TV and other television and radio networks is part of the increasingly authoritarian government’s attempts at creating a univocal media and society.”
İMC TV is among the media institutions that are to be closed. The network’s administrators have protested the decree with a written statement.
“The government has decided our network İMC TV is to be closed according to the Statutory Decree issued within the State of Emergency. Like other television networks such as Hayatın Sesi, TV 10, Van TV, Jiyan TV, Azadi TV, Zarok TV, our network will also be banned from broadcasting. The excuse of the government’s decision is that the networks are part of structures, initiatives and groups that are a threat to national security and they are detected to belong to the terrorist organisations,” reads the statement and emphasizes that during İMC TV’s five and a half years of broadcasting, they have never abandoned the basic and universal rules of journalism and they produced news that were objective and independent.
The statement continues as: “This broadcasting practice of ours has been in place for the governing AKP, as well as for CHP, HDP, MHP and all other parties not represented in the parliament. Our journalistic reflex has been non-biased and at the same level of sensibility for any and all places and groups, from the developments in Cizre to the disaster in Soma, the earthquake in Van to an event in Karadeniz, the discussions in the Parliament to unrest in the streets.
İMC TV has tried to reflect all developments that are of interest for any social group in Turkey with a professional journalistic approach for the last five and a half years. We have continued our rights journalism to the last day.
Thus, we absolutely reject the unlawful accusation the government uses to excuse our closing, and see the decision to close our network as a great blow to freedom of expression and press freedom.
The closing of İMC TV and other television and radio networks is part of the increasingly anti-democratic and authoritarian government’s attempts at creating a univocal media and society. The closing of our network isn’t just a violation of our freedom of expression and press freedom, but also a serious violation of the right to information for millions of citizens. This practice is another part of the decisions and practices by the government to restrict all freedoms in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt.
The government has shown once again that they are using the July 15 coup attempt as an excuse for implementing the practices that any successful coup would. We are expecting a swift retreat from this practice which would be unacceptable in any democracy."
