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Radio and Television Supreme Council (), also known in short as RTÜK, is the Turkish state agency for monitoring, regulating, and sanctioning
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
and
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
broadcasts. RTÜK was founded in 1994 and is composed of nine members elected by the
Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...
. RTÜK is located in
Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
and maintains local offices in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
,
İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...
and Diyarbakir.
Telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
and
information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
sectors fall under another state agency, the
Information and Communication Technologies Authority The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) (), is a national telecommunications regulatory and inspection authority of Turkey. It was formerly known as the Telecommunications Authority (Turkish: ''Telekomünikasyon Kurumu (TK) ...
(BTK). RTÜK initiated the establishment of two international forums in the field of audio visual media services such as the Black Sea Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (BRAF) among 12 members of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in 2009, and the Islamic Countries Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (IBRAF), an affiliate of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), with its 57 member states, in 2011.


Notable sanctions and penalties imposed by RTÜK

* RTÜK is known for sanctioning the broadcasts of a large number of domestic productions, such as Gülşen's
video clip Video clip may refer to: *Short videos, especially short-form content ** Video clip (online media), a short snippet of a video uploaded on the internet *A music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that ...
for the song "Sarışınım", on grounds of "violating the national and moral values of the community and Turkish family structure" (RTÜK Law Art. 4/e), "obscenity" (RTÜK Law Art. 4/t), and "impairing the physical, mental, and moral development of young people and children" (RTÜK Law Art. 4/z). * Among foreign productions sanctioned by RTÜK for similar rationales are '' Wild Things 3'', Nip/Tuck, and ''
Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series created and developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and based on the series of novels of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. It follows a group of students on Manhattan's ...
''. In September 2009, RTÜK banned the broadcasting of the video clip for the song " Love Sex Magic", stating that the video "contains sexual outfits, dancing and scenes that are contrary to the development of children and youth and morality in general." * In another verdict in March 2011, RTÜK punished the broadcast of the feature film ''
Sex and the City 2 ''Sex and the City 2'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Michael Patrick King. It is the sequel to the 2008 film ''Sex and the City','' which was based on the 1998–2004 HBO television series of ...
'', due to the film's portraying a same-sex wedding ceremony, considered "twisted and immoral" by the RTÜK board. * RTÜK also imposes closure orders on TV and radio stations on the grounds that they have made separatist broadcasts. A verdict of high international profile was the banning of Turkish language programmes of
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...
and
Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...
on the grounds that they "threatened national security." * Critics claim that verdicts of RTÜK resulted in excessive
self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure. Self-censorship is c ...
of broadcasters. * The "stream-lining" policies of RTÜK with that of the Turkish government is exemplified once more when they successively imposed huge monetary penalties to the producers of the TV series '' Behzat Ç. Bir Ankara Polisiyesi'' as well as the TV channel broadcasting it. The series explicitly demonstrate the corrupt policies and practices of the Turkish courts, governmental authorities, the bureaucrats, etc. and therefore is widely criticized by the ruling A.K.P. ( Justice and Development Party)-led Turkish government. The ministers of the government as well as many A.K.P. MPs had explicitly criticized the TV series and asked the producers to stop production and the TV channel to stop broadcasting; however they had to back down amid extremely widespread protests of the spectators and fans of the series. As a result, the government is now (as of 2012) trying to press the producers and the TV channel by imposing huge monetary penalties on feeble claims such as "the violation the national and moral values of the community and Turkish family structure" (RTÜK Law Art. 4/e), "obscenity" (RTÜK Law Art. 4/t), and "the impairment of the physical, mental, and moral development of young people and children" (RTÜK Law Art. 4/z). RTÜK alleges that the major characters of the series "drink too much", "swear too much", "conduct behaviour against the moral values of the Turkish family life"-the latter just because the bachelor police chief is seeing a single (divorced) female prosecutor of state and that "they have a relationship out of wedlock". The first season of the series were heavily penalized by the RTÜK and the second season brought even more penalties of the RTÜK to the producers of the series and the broadcasting TV channel. As a result, when the second-season of the series finished in June 2012, all spectators and fans were pessimist on whether they will be watching a third-season. The third season started to air on September 21, 2012, but with a heavy censor on all conversations, extreme censor on scenes where the characters drink beer, etc. and consequently, the website of the TV channel broadcasting the series over the internet received more than 130,000 hits in the other day of the broadcast in just a couple of hours when word spread among fans that a "censor-free" version is available. In February 2022 RTÜK demanded that three international news agencies -
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...
,
Euronews Euronews (stylised in lowercase) is a pan-European television news broadcasting, news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. It is a provider of livestreamed news, which can be viewed in Europe and North Africa via satellite, and in most of the ...
, and Germany's
Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...
- apply for online broadcasting licenses. Deutsche Welle said it was an attempt "to restrict the reporting of international media services"; VOA issued a statement that it will not abide by RTÜK's demand for an online license, explaining that "the internet is not a limited resource, and the only possible purpose of a licensing requirement for internet distribution is enabling censorship". After the
2025 Kartalkaya hotel fire On 21 January 2025, a fire occurred at the Grand Kartal Hotel at the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu Province, Turkey; at least 78 people died, 51 others were injured. The fire started in the hotel's fourth floor kitchen/restaurant section. It oc ...
killed at least 79 people, RTÜK chairman Ebubekir Şahin imposed a broadcasting ban on coverage of the fire. In response, the Workers' Party of Turkey's
lawyers A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as wel ...
filed an objection to the decision. On March 23, 2025, RTÜK stopped all live broadcasts on
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
as a measure against 2025 Turkish protests. RTÜK announced that punishments, including suspension of broadcasting and
license A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...
cancellation, can be applied to other broadcasters who broadcast outside of the Turkish law. The violations of the law include: "calls for the public to take to the streets, statements on behalf of illegal organizations, biased broadcasting activities, statements and broadcasts that insult and threaten
government officials An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of the ...
, members of the
judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
, investigating officers, security services and
law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...
agencies".
Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...
deputy chairman Ali Mahir Başarır responded to RTÜK's statement, stating: "Chinese TV is broadcasting live here, but Halk TV, Sözcü, Tele 1 cannot”, referring to RTÜK's alleged
double standards A double standard is the application of different sets of principles for situations that are, in principle, the same. It is often used to describe treatment whereby one group is given more latitude than another. A double standard arises when two ...
applied to independent TV channels as opposed to those with government ties.


Others

* Gün Radyo ve TV in 2002 ordered off air for a year for broadcasting Kurdish-language songs * '' Günlük'' case * ''Nur Radyo Ve Televizyon Yayinciligi A.S. v. Turkey (no. 2)'' (ECHR 2010 - judgement of breach of Article 2010)


Website blockings

RTÜK may request that access to broadcasting services/websites be blocked if they have not been granted a temporary or permanent broadcasting license, or if their right and/or license has been revoked. * Music streaming platform
Tidal (service) Tidal (stylized TIDAL) is a Norwegian-American music streaming service, launched in 2014 by the Norwegian-Swedish public company Aspiro. Tidal is now majority-owned by Block, Inc., the owner of the point-of-sale system Square. With distribu ...
was banned in November 2020 upon the request of RTÜK and was blocked until December 2020. * Upon the request of RTÜK, ozguruz20.org domain name that belongs to web radio station ''Özgürüz'', which is run by the nonprofit newsroom Correctiv was blocked. * Radio Garden which is a non-profit radio listening project has been banned since 4 January 2022. * On 30 June 2022,
Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...
and
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...
's websites have been banned in
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
upon the request of RTÜK.


RTÜK's family projects

Besides sanctioning broadcasts, RTÜK also leads some projects purportedly "to protect children and to help parents in media environment". These projects are: *
Media literacy Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy that includes the ability to access and analyze Media (communication), media messages, as well as create, reflect and take action—using the power of information and communication—to ma ...
(Medya Okur-Yazarlığı) *Smart signs (Akıllı İşaretler) projects aims at a rating system similar to television rating systems in other countries. *Internet safety (İnternet Güvenliği) *Good Night Kids (İyi Uykular Çocuklar) is a cartoon show that aims at children's gaining habits of going to bed early.


Law

Prior to 1994, television and radio broadcasts were only permitted by the state. The ''Law No. 3984 on the Establishment of Radio and Television Enterprises and their Broadcasts'', dated 13 April 1994 liberalised this, allowing an explosion of private media. The 1994 law was replaced by ''Law No. 6112 on the Establishment of Radio and Television Enterprises'', which came into force on 15 February 2011.


See also

* List of ECHR cases concerning Article 10 in Turkey


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rtuk Censorship in Turkey Organizations established in 1994 Broadcasting in Turkey 1994 establishments in Turkey Organizations based in Ankara Television in Turkey Radio in Turkey Mass media in Ankara Regulatory and supervisory agencies of Turkey