Press Release

July 24, 1996

Telephone: (202) 483-6444

Support For MED-TV

Earlier this month, bowing to pressure from the Turkish government, the broadcasting rights for the Europe-based Kurdish satellite station MED-TV were revoked. There has been much outcry from the Kurdish Diaspora concerning this crackdown on freedom of expression. We received the following letters of support for MED-TV from the jailed members of the Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) in Ankara Prison and from noted Turkish intellectual Haluk Gerger. We wished to share them with you:

"MED-TV brought life to the Kurdish cultural scene the way water and air do these things to living organisms. It was a source of news for the Kurds and a mirror that reflected their reality to them. Thanks to MED-TV, the Kurdish language was coming alive, something which threatened those who wanted to suffocate it.

"MED-TV epitomized the hope of the Kurdish people for renewal; it was a magnet which drew the Kurds together. For these reasons, we condemn those who wish it to be banned and ask for its broadcasting to resume immediately."

Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan, Selim Sadak

(jailed Kurdish members of the Turkish Parliament)

"I am a Turkish academic. I have appeared in virtually all Turkish TV networks as well as some foreign TV channels. I have never experienced the complete freedom of expression that I've had in various MED-TV programs. MED-TV was a forum where all voices that were either persecuted or otherwise barred to express themselves freely in countries like Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran could find a prominent place for themselves: peace activists, members of ethnic or religious minorities, women, politicians, spokespersons for marginalized communities, etc. It was also a medium through which democratic values like free discussion, dissent, criticism, and tolerance could be transmitted to millions who never in their daily lives have had the chance to indulge in such "luxuries". It was a school for millions to understand and respect different cultures, values, and perspectives. It was indeed a garden of cultures where a thousand roses blossomed. It is disheartening, to say the least, to see this garden brutalized and vandalized.

"Working for it, watching it, or participating in its programs, we have been infected with the 'disease of freedom', as its enemies would call our yearning for MED-TV. We cherish this wonderful experiment and will do our best to have it back."

Dr. Haluk Gerger