Turkish authorities shut down Acik Radyo after Armenian Genocide row

ArmInfo. Istanbul-based Acik Radyo announced on Wednesday it was being shut down by the  authorities, six months after a guest talked about the Armenian Genocide on air.

However, the radio has vowed to fight on and find a way to keep  working, as reported by AFP.  The source notes that Turkey's  broadcasting watchdog RTUK had already suspended Istanbul-based Acik  Radyo from broadcasting for five days in May for the program in  question, which it said incited hatred.  The media regulator withdrew  the station's license in July, but the radio had been broadcasting  until now.  "Ak?k Radyo's terrestrial broadcasts will be cut off  today at 13:00 local time (10:00 GMT) today. Stay tuned for  developments," the station said on X, formerly Twitter.  The  sanctions came after a guest on show in April called the 1915  killings of Armenians in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire  "genocide".

"It is a term many historians agree on, which Turkey fiercely  disputes," AFP wrote.  Ak?k Radyo urged its listeners to raise "an  even clearer and louder voice" against the shutdown. "Our radio has  become an amplifier for civilian voices in many fields from the  struggle for climate and the environment to public health, and from  gender equality to multiculturalism," the station said.  The station,  which has been broadcasting for three decades, describes itself as a  station "open to all sounds, colors and vibrations of the universe."