Roj TV
Encyclopedia
Roj TV is an international Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...

 satellite television station broadcasting programmes in the Kurmanji, Sorani
Soranî
Soranî is the name of a Kurdish language that is spoken in Iran and Iraq. Soranî is one of the main Kurdish languages, which are a branch of the Iranian languages.- Name :...

 and Hewrami dialects of the Kurdish language
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....

 as well as in Zaza, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, and Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

.

Programming

The channel broadcasts from Denmark as well as having some office and Studio facilities in Belgium and transmits on the Eurobird 9A satellite (9 Degrees East) to Europe and the Middle East on 11.843 GHz Vertical - S.Rate 27.500 and Hellas2 satellite 39 Degrees East on 11512 GHz Horizontal - S.Rate 27.500. Transmissions on the Hotbird satellite (13 Degrees East) have apparently ceased.

Programming on Roj TV consists of news, political discussion programs and cultural programming (particularly music and occasional films) with a small amount of children's, entertainment and educational programming. As well as programming in various Kurdish dialects Roj TV broadcasts in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

 (aimed at both Turks and assimilated Kurds) Zaza, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

 and several other languages spoken in the region. A short weekly English news bulletin is broadcast most Saturday mornings (around 11.30 UK time
British Summer Time
Western European Summer Time is a summer daylight saving time scheme, 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in the following places:* the Canary Islands* Portugal * Ireland...

) and very occasionally films with English subtitles are shown. Roj TV is accessible live through the Internet, as well (http://tv-online-channels.com/online-tv/Iraq-tv-channels/ROJ-TV_1272.html).

MED TV

MED TV was a London-based international TV whose licence was revoked on April 23, 1999 by British regulators as their broadcasts were judged as 'likely to encourage or incite crime or lead to disorder'. The ITC
Independent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003....

 imposed three fines totaling £90,000 on MED TV for three separate breaches of the requirement for due impartiality before the closure. eventually revoking their broadcasting licence (amid accusations of bias on the ITC's part http://www.markthomasinfo.com/nsarticles/default.asp?id=11 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,294941,00.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/monitoring/326883.stm ).

When Med TV lost its licence in the UK, MEDYA TV started transmissions from studios in Belgium via a satellite uplink from France on July 30, 1999. MEDYA TV's licence was revoked by the French authorities on February 13, 2004, the French court believed that the station had ties with the PKK; and CSA
Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel
The Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel is a French institution, created in 1989, whose role is to regulate the various electronic media in France, such as radio and television, including through eventual censorship...

, the French licensing authority, stated that MEDYA TV was a successor to MED-TV, and French Appeal Court confirmed CSA's decision. The channel ran an announcement stating that "A new channel, Roj TV, will begin broadcasting on the first of the month".
Roj TV began transmissions from Denmark on March 1, 2004.

Roj TV is banned from broadcasting in Germany by the German Interior Ministry in June 2008 because of the network's alleged ties with the PKK organization. Roj's production company based in Wuppertal was also dissolved. This ban was temporarily lifted by a German court on 25 February 2010.

Controversy

The Turkish Government claims the channel is a mouthpiece for the Kurdistan Workers Party
Kurdistan Workers Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party , commonly known as PKK, also known as KGK and formerly known as KADEK or KONGRA-GEL , is a Kurdish organization which has since 1984 been fighting an armed struggle against the Turkish state for an autonomous Kurdistan and greater cultural and political rights...

 (PKK), whom they regard as a terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

 organization, (as do the UK, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

), and have lobbied the Danish government (so far unsuccessfully) to revoke Roj TV's broadcasting license. A Turkish Foreign Ministry official stated: "We know for sure that Roj TV is part of the PKK, a terrorist organization... [The PKK] is listed as a terrorist organization by the EU. Denmark is a member of the EU, and we would expect that the broadcasting organization of a terrorist group would not be given a free pass."
While the station's general manager, Manouchehr Tahsili Zonoozi, an Iranian Kurd, acknowledges that the station maintains contact with the PKK, he characterizes it as an independent Kurdish broadcaster, which is not under the control of the PKK. The Turkish authorities have repeatably made formal complaints to the Danish Radio and Television Board regarding Roj TV, but to date none of the complaints have been upheld by the Board, who have ruled that the TV channel has not violated any rules over which the Board has regulatory power.

On 4 March 2010 Belgian police raided several locations including Roj TV's facilities. Belgian prosecutors said the raid was due to "very serious evidence that, in a very organised way, youngsters of Kurdish origin were recruited in western Europe, notably in Belgium". Programming was disrupted for a time but the channel returned to air.

As of August 2010, Roj TV has been formally indicted by the Danish attorney general
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

 for violation of Danish anti-terrorism legislation
Anti-terrorism legislation
Anti-terrorism legislation designs various types of laws passed in the aim of fighting terrorism. They usually, if not always, follow specific bombings or assassinations...

, specifically the rules against "promoting terrorist activities" of the Kurdish organization PKK. However the channel remains on air pending possible court proceedings.

As part of the United States diplomatic cables leak
United States diplomatic cables leak
The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began in February 2010 when WikiLeaks—a non-profit organization that publishes submissions from anonymous whistleblowers—began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates,...

 of November 2010, a diplomatic message surfaced that referred to a Turkish representative's claim that, "as part of the 2009 POTUS-brokered deal that had overcome Turkish objections to the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Anders Fogh Rasmussen is a Danish politician, and the 12th and current Secretary General of NATO. Rasmussen served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 27 November 2001 to 5 April 2009....

 as NATO Secretary General, Denmark had promised to clarify its legal requirements prerequiste to acceding to Turkey's request for the closure of Roj TV"

Background

Kurdish language programmes were completely forbidden from the media in Turkey from 1925 until 2002 when restrictions were relaxed somewhat. However during this time Kurdish stations started broadcasting to Turkey via satellite from Europe (Initially there also were several Turkish language
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

 commercial satellite broadcasters established in a similar manner in response to the TRT
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, also known as TRT , is the national public broadcaster of Turkey and was founded in 1964. Around 70% of TRT's funding comes from a tax levied on electricity bills and a sales tax on television and radio receivers...

 monopoly. However with the deregulation of broadcasting within Turkey all of these have moved their operations to within Turkey itself, and many of them have now been licensed on terrestrial frequencies). In 2004, the national public broadcaster TRT
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, also known as TRT , is the national public broadcaster of Turkey and was founded in 1964. Around 70% of TRT's funding comes from a tax levied on electricity bills and a sales tax on television and radio receivers...

 became the first major broadcaster to broadcast a Kurdish-language programme although initially TRT only broadcast Kurdish programmes once per week, along with a handful of local TV and radio stations. These programmes were initially limited 45 minutes per day (an hour per week on TRT), are heavily censored, must include Turkish sub-titles and should not include children's programmes and any other types of educational programmes. The programmes are mostly focused on Ataturk and Turkish ancient history. In 2008 TRT
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, also known as TRT , is the national public broadcaster of Turkey and was founded in 1964. Around 70% of TRT's funding comes from a tax levied on electricity bills and a sales tax on television and radio receivers...

 announced they were planning to launch their own fulltime Kurdish language channel TRT 6
TRT 6
TRT 6, part of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, is Turkey's first national Kurdish language television station.It broadcasts in the Kurmanji and Sorani dialects of the Kurdish language and in the Zaza language, offering programs aimed at all ages and promoting the perspective of the...

 with programming "promoting the Turkish Republic and its values as well as to counter the propaganda from the PKK channel Roj TV." On January 1, 2009, TRT şeş was officially opened with a new years special including Kurdish singers such as Rojin. The channel has been promoted with much fanfare prior to the March 2009 local elections in Turkey, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...

using Kurdish at party rallies in the south east to welcome the channel.
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