An independent radio station in Istanbul has shut down after Turkey’s regulator cancelled its terrestrial broadcasting licence after it failed to comply with a suspension order over comments made by a guest on the genocide of Armenians.

The station was suspended in May and fined after a guest, speaking on April 24, referred to the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as genocide.

RTUK, Turkey’s radio and television watchdog, said at the time that the station had made no attempt to correct the guest’s remarks, which constituted incitement to hatred and hostility.

Commemorations are held around the world each April 24 for the killings, that many countries recognise as genocide.

In June, Acik Radyo said it failed to comply with RTUK’s suspension order due to an error in the National Electronic Notification System (UETS), a state body that sends notifications to individuals.

“When the problem was identified, a letter was sent to RTUK explaining the technical problem. However, they decided to revoke the licence in July without responding to our petition,” it said.

“Revoking the licence, regardless of the reason, is definitely an attempt to silence the public voice,” Omer Madra, co-founder and the editor-in-chief of Acik Radyo, told reporters on Wednesday after the radio went off the air. [Reuters]

Source: Ekathimerini.com