Sawt Falasteen - Turkey shuts down radio station in Armenia genocide row

"There are our last moments," broadcast coordinator Didem Gencturk said inside a small booth just minutes before 1:00 pm (1000 GMT), when Acik Radyo stopped broadcasting, with both staff and supporters applauding in a show of solidarity.

"We will continue to exist," she said, as many employees had tears in their eyes as the room went dark.

"We have mixed feelings, the realist and idealist elements are constantly in conflict," Ilksen Mavituna, another of Acik's broadcast coordinators, told AFP.

"The realist side says we should look ahead, that digital channels can be used easily," he said.

"But this is our last broadcast on FM -- a great treasure created with contributions from thousands of listeners over 30 years. That, we are losing," he said.

Turkey's broadcasting watchdog RTUK suspended Acik Radyo for five days in May on grounds of allegedly inciting hatred.

It then withdrew the station's licence in July, though the radio had continued broadcasting until now.

The sanctions came after an April broadcast in which a guest called the 1915 killings of Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire "genocide".

It is a term many historians agree on but which successive Turkish governments have fiercely disputed.

- 'Lighthouse' is disappearing -

The station's website was available Wednesday but its radio frequency was silent.

Acik describes itself as "open to all sounds, colours and vibrations of the universe", with its broadcasts addressing human rights, minority rights and ecological crises.

Melis Behlil, Acik's film critic, called it a "community radio".

"It's very important that people have a radio that they set up and maintain and support themselves," she told AFP.

"That independence is extremely valuable in terms of not representing any power centre, for people being able to express their thoughts freely and being open to the voices of the world," she said.

Mavituna, the broadcast coordinator, agreed.

"Acik Radyo is alive with the support of its listeners. The strength of this bond was a factor that guaranteed our independence," he said.

Meral Erbil, a retired broadcaster with state-run TRT who showed up to express support, said Acik was a unique radio station in Turkey.

"It was the only station that elevated the public. A lighthouse that illuminates society is disappearing," she told AFP.

Acik said it would appeal the ban in hopes of resuming its broadcasts.

-'Scandalous'-

Turkey ranks 158 out of 180 countries listed in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

In a shrinking media landscape where many newspapers and television broadcasters toe the government line, Acik Radyo offered an alternative, employees said.

"Look at how much opposition producers and journalists in the digital world are monitored today," Mavituna said.

"Also look at the relationship between listeners and viewers of the channels that position themselves as the voice of the establishment -- you will find the real demand is for an alternative voice. We exist for this demand."

Erol Onderoglu, RSF's Turkey representative, condemned the closure as "scandalous".

"RTUK, which is controlled by the government, has clamped down on a station which embodied pluralist information, respect for cultural and political minorities, as well as the fight for the climate and ecological awareness in a country where media polarisation has continued to strengthen," he told AFP.

Armenia says Ottoman forces massacred and deported more than 1.5 million Armenians during World War I between 1915 and 1917.

Around 30 countries have recognised the killings as genocide, a charge long rejected by Turkey.

Ankara acknowledges however that up to 500,000 Armenians were killed in ethnic fighting, massacres or starvation during mass deportations from eastern Anatolia.

A.AbuSaada--SF-PST