Erdogan cancels penalties for impartial TV, radio ahead of referendum

PRESIDENT Recep Erdogan issued an executive order on Thursday cancelling the election commission’s powers to impose penalties on private broadcasters who violated impartiality rules during election campaigns.

The order was issued under an ongoing state-of-emergency, in place since a coup attempt last year.

Turkey heads to a referendum, likely in April, on expanding Erdogan’s powers.

The cancelled provision stated that if restrictions were violated during a campaign, private broadcasters could face fines or even temporary closures, which were determined by the Supreme Election Council.

Opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet noted in reporting on the executive decree that pro-government channels were heavily penalised after the November 2015 parliamentary election.

Some pro-opposition channels were also affected.

In the months since the July coup attempt by a faction in the military, the government has shuttered more than 150 government-critical media outlets.

No fewer than 120 journalists are in jail.

Critics of the state-broadcasting company say it already gives more air time to the government than opposition figures.

Groups trying to organize the “no” campaign for the referendum say they are struggling to get off the ground, in part due to the restrictions of the state-of-emergency.

Some of the opposition media outlets shuttered were taken over by government loyalists.

The new presidential decree also stipulates how they can now be sold off and the profits transferred to the state.

Also, Erdogan decreed that all vehicles in Turkey must now have winter tyres during the winter season.

The decree is effective immediately and drivers who violate the order can be fined.