COPENHAGEN, — Tents are pitched today in Copenhagen to support Kurdish satellite channel Roj-TV, under trial in Denmark for its alleged links to the PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party).
Tents will become a meeting point as well as the place for press conferences and information about the latest developments on the case. Kurdish well known female MP Lelya Zana is reported to pay visit to the tents.
The trial against Roj-TV has started on the 15 August, following a constant pressure from Turkey to block the Kurdish TV.
A mail campaign has been launched to support Roj-TV, in which 100 thousand mails have been sent to the Minister of Justice: jm@jm.dk, Minister of Foreign Affairs: um@um.dk, ROJ TV: rojame@roj.tv
The mail had the following message: “Around the world millions of Kurds are watching the Kurdish satellite TV channel ROJ TV. ROJ TV is not only the biggest Kurdish TV station but also the one with the highest viewing rates among all TV channels in Turkey.
Despite this and maybe rather because of this the Turkish Government keeps putting pressure on the Danish government for closing down ROJ TV under the pretext of ‘struggling against terrorism’.
However it’s clear that the Turkish Government’s efforts are associated with the oppression of the Kurdish language which de facto is still forbidden as ROJ TV is broadcasting its news and cultural programmes in this particular language.
At the same time, the pressure on Denmark as licenser demonstrates Turkey’s dismissive attitude towards the freedom of press as it tries to close down a critical media coverage.
ROJ TV is our free voice and ROJ TV is enlightens our view on the world and on what is going on in Kurdistan.”