A firefighting helicopter fetched water from the Aegean Sea near the coal-fired Kemerkoy power station in southwestern Turkey, while a person recorded it with a smartphone.
Picture: dpa
According to the country’s broadcasters, these reports spread fear and panic and offended the government. President Erdogan talked about “the terror of lies.”
widthA country’s Broadcasting Administration (Rtük) fined five television stations for reporting on fires in Turkey. The national news agency Anadolu reported on Wednesday that Rtük claimed that these posts would spread fear and panic and offend the government to justify the decision.
The penalties are for Fox TV, KRT, Tele 1, Halk Tv and Haber Türk. Among other things, these stations made derogatory comments on the Erdogan government’s response to the fire. The Islamic conservative ruling party Justice and Development Party and its ultra-nationalist partner MHP account for the majority of institutions. A few weeks ago, Rtük had issued a warning to the media regarding fire reports.
In Turkey, the fire has caused huge damage for two weeks, especially on the Mediterranean coast. Among other things, the opposition criticized the government’s crisis management from the beginning—for example, there were no firefighting aircraft available at first. The government rejected criticism-President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called it “the horror of lies.”
