CHP calls on TRT regarding 'Ekrem İmamoğlu'! 'Broadcast it live'

Speaking at the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), CHP Eskişehir Deputy Utku Çakırözer made a call for the trial of the detained Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu to be broadcast live on TRT.

Çakırözer stated, "If this TRT has not become the mouthpiece of the AKP, and if it has even a shred of shame, then come out and broadcast the trial of our presidential candidate Mr. Ekrem İmamoğlu live on TRT."

90 PERCENT OF ITS BUDGET FROM THE NATION: 510 BILLION COLLECTED IN 20 YEARS

Deliberations on the Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Laws and Decree-Law No. 375, which includes regulations that were annulled by the Constitutional Court (AYM) and TRT, have begun in the General Assembly of the TBMM.

Taking the floor during the deliberations, Utku Çakırözer pointed out that the TRT budget is composed of citizens' taxes and criticized broadcasts that do not include the speeches of opposition representatives.

Çakırözer reiterated his call for the trial of the detained presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu to be broadcast live on TRT.

Stating that 90 percent of TRT's budget is covered by the nation's taxes, Çakırözer noted the following:

"The nation provides its budget; salaries are paid and broadcasts are prepared with the taxes of 86 million people, whether they are AKP supporters, CHP supporters, party members, or unaffiliated. The General Manager boasts in the Commission: 'Our revenue increased by 692 percent in three years.' Yes, it increased, but how? A TRT banderole fee is collected from the phone in our pocket at 12 percent, from the television and radio in our home at 16 percent, from the computer on our desk at 4 percent, from the watch on our wrist at 16 percent, and from the radio in our car, or even the tractor if it has one, at 1 percent. A total of 510 billion liras has gone to it in 20 years. The money deducted for TRT from a family of 4 is exactly 20 thousand liras. On top of that, they also charge citizens an extra fee to watch the digital platform they established. It is shameful, shameful!"

"COME OUT AND EXPLAIN WHAT YOUR SCIENTIFIC FIGURES ARE"

Stating that "This TRT, which is financed by the public in every way, has now become Tayyip Erdoğan's radio and television, the palace's mouthpiece, and the AKP's propaganda organ," CHP's Çakırözer used the following expressions:

"Open it and look; there are no statements or even the names of the opposition in any of TRT's broadcasts. During the election period, the injustice reached the heavens. While endless time was granted to Erdoğan and his candidates, there was no room for the CHP, IYI Party, or DEM, let alone by the hour, not even by the minute or second. It didn't stop there; this TRT became a tool for lies and deceit by broadcasting videos that had no basis in reality. Even on election day, they violated the law and made partisan, biased broadcasts. The elections are over, we became Turkey's 1st party as the CHP, but you look and see that while the group meetings of the AKP and MHP are broadcast in their entirety, our Chairman is barely given three or five minutes. The TRT General Manager has come out and said, 'These figures are not scientific.' Come out and explain your scientific figures then, but you cannot explain them because there is no such figure; there is a chasm, a chasm between them."

"THE MEDIA AND JUDICIARY ARM OF THE MARCH 19 COUP"

Pointing out that TRT has become both the media and judiciary arm of the March 19 civil coup, Çakırözer spoke as follows:

"A public broadcaster should be impartial; the presumption of innocence, the confidentiality of the investigation; none of these matter to them! It is all about hostility toward İmamoğlu. Open TRT and look at the subtitles; 'How did the İBB money wheel work?', 'Usage permit for illegal structure', 'Here is the seized money', 'They set up a bribery wheel'. You look at the broadcasts made, it is a blatant trial by media. The guest on the program says: 'These are a gang, these are the mafia, they should be in prison for many years.' There is not even an indictment yet, but TRT has passed the sentence; they will be in prison for many years. Neither a TRT executive nor a government official comes out and says, 'Friends, what are you doing? It is shameful, it is a sin, it is a crime,' because the remote control of TRT is in the palace.

"LET THE LAWYERS USE THEIR RIGHT OF REPLY"

Since you have made these broadcasts, at least let them use the most fundamental right, the right of reply, and broadcast the responses of their lawyers. You don't do that either. The presumption of innocence has been exceeded, the confidentiality of the investigation has been violated, who cares? The TRT General Manager has come out and says, 'I will broadcast every second of our President live.' Fine, broadcast him, but broadcast us too. Our Chairman is holding rallies in Anatolia twice a week against the usurpation of the national will, attended by hundreds of thousands; here, we are in Silivri tomorrow, we are in İzmir on May 19. Which one does this TRT broadcast? How many minutes of these rallies did you broadcast? Does the leader of Turkey's 1st party's rallies, the search for justice and law by the millions there, and the cry for freedom for İmamoğlu have no news value for this TRT, for this nation?

If this TRT has not become the mouthpiece of the palace and the AKP, and if it has even a shred of shame, then come out and broadcast the trial of our presidential candidate Mr. Ekrem İmamoğlu live on TRT. If you have a shred of conscience or morality left, broadcast this trial live. We say 'Challenge accepted!' and we write this here as well: We will hold those responsible, sooner or later before the judiciary, for the broadcasting policy of this TRT, which has turned into Tayyip Erdoğan's radio and television, which ignores the rule of law, justice, and democracy, which has forgotten impartiality, and which has turned into a propaganda tool for a party, as well as for the corruption and irregularities committed."

News Source: 12punto