MED TV was the first Kurdish satellite TV with studios in London, England and

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Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. MED TV broadcast programs mainly in six languages, Kurdish (

Sorani Central Kurdish (), also called Sorani (), is a Kurdish dialect or a language that is spoken in Iraq, mainly in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan in western Iran. Sorani is one of the two o ...

and

Kurmanji Kurmanji ( ku, کورمانجی, lit=Kurdish, translit=Kurmancî, also termed Northern Kurdish, is the northern dialect of the Kurdish languages, spoken predominantly in southeast Turkey, northwest and northeast Iran, northern Iraq, northern Sy ...

dialects),

Zaza Zaza may refer to: Ethnic group * Zazas, a group of people in eastern Anatolia (southeastern Turkey) * Zaza–Gorani languages, Indo-Iranian languages ** Zaza language, spoken by the Zazas People Given name * Zaza Sor. Aree (born 1993), Thai kic ...

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and Turkish.

Programs and audience

MED TV Programmes were a varied mix from children's programs, music, documentaries and news broadcasts. A program in which Kurdish books written in the three scripts of

, Kyrillic and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

were discussed, was moderated by a journalist of

Özgür Gündem ''Özgür Gündem'' ( Turkish for "Free Agenda") was an Istanbul-based daily Turkish language newspaper, mainly read by Kurds. Launched in May 1992, the newspaper was known for its extensive reporting on the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, and was reg ...

. It broadcast to Europe,

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and the Middle East. Its primary audience was in the Middle East where it was seen by many as a refreshing source of information outside of state censorship. It also has a large audience amongst the Kurdish population scattered throughout Europe. In Turkey, it was forbidden to watch Med TV, people were arrested for having been caught watching its programs. The police would search for satellite dishs in Diyarbakır, which they'd confiscate. Turkey saw MED TV as a part of the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(PKK), which it classifies as a terrorist organization. None the less its shows were very popular amongst

Kurds in Turkey The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. According to various estimates, they compose between 15% and 20% of the population of Turkey.; ; Sandra Mackey , “The reckoning: Iraq and the legacy of Saddam”, W.W. Norton and Compan ...

Organization

At its establishment in 1995, thirteen media workers employed at the Television. Most were amateurs, only one had a education in the field. The company expanded its activities significantly until in 1997, the television counted with 250 employees. The TV had close ties with the newspaper Özgür Gündem, whose chief-editor

Gurbetelli Ersöz Gurbetelli Ersöz (1965, Palu, Elazığ– 8 October 1997, South Kurdistan) was a chemist, journalist and later also member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Biography Gurbetelli was born in Palu, Elazığ, and studied chemistry at the Univ ...

was also MED TVs chief-editor for

Turkish Kurdistan Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan () refers to the southeastern part of Turkey, where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group. The Kurdish Institute of Paris estimates that there are 20 million Kurds living in Turkey, the majority of th ...

Bans

Turkey repeatedly urged providers of satellites to end the broadcast of MED TV. One of the reasons the pro-Kurdish

People's Democracy Party People's Democracy Party ( tr, Halkın Demokrasi Partisi, HADEP) was a Kurdish population, Kurdish political party in Turkey. Murat Bozlak founded the party on 11 May 1994. The party disbanded in 2003. History Bozlak's first chairmanship P ...

(HADEP) was banned in 2003, was allowing people to watch MED TV in the party's offices. HADEP Med TV first broadcast with a license from

Independent Television Commission The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003. History The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...

(ITC) and from satellites of Polish Telecom, until the polish government gave in to Turkish demands to ban MED TV. Following the ban in Poland, Med TV rented satellites from USA based

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as I ...

to broadcast its programs. But Turkey kept on demanding the British Government to take MED TV off the air, and MED TV's license was revoked on April 23, 1999, as their broadcasts were judged as 'likely to encourage or incite crime or lead to disorder'. Its license was revoked just after the arrest of

Abdullah Ocalan Abdullah may refer to: * Abdullah (name), a list of people with the given name or surname * Abdullah, Kargı, Turkey, a village * ''Abdullah'' (film), a 1980 Bollywood film directed by Sanjay Khan * '' Abdullah: The Final Witness'', a 2015 Pakis ...

, the leader of the PKK on request by

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. Following the ban there were widespread allegations of bias on the part of the ITC as the then chairman Sir Robin Biggam had interests in

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which also had extensive interests in Turkey.

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and the UK Government were also criticized over the ban. On April 26, 1999, a spokesman for MED-TV said that they were determined to resume broadcasting either in a different country or under a new name.

Quotations

After the ban

When Med TV lost its licence in the UK, MEDYA TV started transmissions via a satellite uplink from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in July 1999 and a production studio in

. MEDYA TV's licence was revoked by the French authorities in February 2004, the French court believed that the station had ties with PKK;Clandestine Radio Watch #154
, 2004-03-15. and

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, the French licensing authority stated that MEDYA TV was a successor to MED-TV, and French Appeal Court confirmed CSA's decision.Clandestine Radio Watch #153
2004-02-29. The channel ran an announcement stating that "A new channel, Roj TV, will begin broadcasting on the first of the month".

Roj TV Roj may refer to: * Rój, a district in Poland * Roj TV, a Kurdish satellite television station * Roj Blake, the eponymous rebel leader from the BBC television series ''Blake's 7'' * Andrzej Gąsienica Roj (1930-1989), Polish skier who competed in ...

began transmissions from Denmark on March 1, 2004.

Programs and audience

Organization

Bans

Quotations

After the ban

References

See also