ROK move from Halk TV: It was removed in a hurry, but...

The interview with Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı, published on the Halk TV YouTube channel, created a crisis within the channel. Following the announcement of the interview, Halktv.com.tr columnist Serpil Yılmaz resigned first. Then, journalists Şule Aydın, Murat Ağırel, Timur Soykan, Barış Terkoğlu, and Barış Pehlivan also announced that they were leaving the channel. Following these developments, the channel's owner, Cafer Mahiroğlu, described the situation as "completely a road accident."

INTERVIEW PUBLISHED, CRISIS BEGAN

Halk TV announced the interview, in which Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı made statements about the process, with the words, "Journalist Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı revealed very striking information about the process on the Halk TV YouTube channel!" However, the video drew a major backlash on social media and was removed from broadcast shortly after. Despite this, the crisis that began within the channel continued to grow.

RESIGNATIONS CAME ONE AFTER ANOTHER

The first reaction after the publication of the interview came from Halk TV columnist Serpil Yılmaz. Yılmaz announced that she had left the channel in a statement on her social media account. Later, Şule Aydın, the moderator of the "Kayda Geçsin" program, also announced that she had resigned.

Şule Aydın used the following expressions in her statement:

"As the 'Kayda Geçsin' team, we have parted ways with Halk TV as of today. In a period when the media is being blacked out by government pressure and press freedom is being slaughtered, we made free broadcasts on Halk TV. We would like to thank the Halk TV family and its audience, who have always been valuable to us."

Following Aydın, journalist Murat Ağırel also announced that he had parted ways with the channel:

"I cannot accept that a figure who in the past sang the praises of the FETÖ terrorist organization and defended the conspiracy cases is given space to make statements as if he were a reputable person. Seeing this on a platform to which we have devoted years of effort is contrary to my principles and my understanding of journalism."

Barış Pehlivan also criticized Kütahyalı's presence on Halk TV with harsh words:

"Kütahyalı is one of the media legs of the rot in Turkey today. If he is a journalist, please do not call me a journalist."

Timur Soykan, on the other hand, reacted to the interview being published under the Halk TV logo:

"It saddened me to see this person, who acted as a hitman for FETÖ members and the Palace regime, appear under the logo of Halk TV, which has paid the price for the struggle for democracy."

Following these statements, Barış Terkoğlu also joined the names who resigned.

CAFER MAHİROĞLU: ROAD ACCIDENT

Following the resignations, Halk TV owner Cafer Mahiroğlu made a statement on his social media account. Stating that he was not aware that the interview had been published, Mahiroğlu used the following expressions:

"Last night, a campaign was launched against me and the channel by a group of Halk TV programmers on social media due to an interview published on our YouTube channel. Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı has nothing to do with me or the channel's editorial line. This is completely a road accident."

Mahiroğlu also stated that the YouTube channel is managed by a different administration than the television and website, saying, "If I had known, I would not have approved this interview."

INTERVIEW REMOVED BUT...

The interview published on Halk TV's YouTube channel was quickly removed. However, the promotional post for the interview still remains on Halk TV's social media account. Although the video has been removed, it is seen that it has been taken off the air when the link is clicked.