Sweden’s public radio broadcaster, Sveriges Radio, has announced that it will halt its broadcasts in three languages including Kurdish to cut costs, the Erbil-based Rudaw news outlet reported, citing the radio station.
Sveriges Radio CEO Cilla Benko said in a statement that the changes to the radio’s services were part of measures to save 225 million Swedish krona, or just under $22 million.
The Kurdish service started broadcasting about 23 years ago, on January 6, 2001, and has broadcast in both the Sorani and Kurmanci dialects. The service has four permanent journalists and four other contributors.
“I look at the Kurdish service as a child that I have given birth to,” Kurdish news presenter Nasser Sina told Sveriges Radio on Wednesday as they announced the plans to halt the broadcasts.
He was the first to go on air when the service started.
“But now I feel like that child is dying in front of my very eyes,” he said.
The service is scheduled to go off air on March 31, about 10 days after Nevruz, the Kurdish spring festival.
Nishtman Irandoust, one of the Kurdish journalists, told Rudaw the public broadcaster would reduce its expenditures but also said some believe the motive could be political.
Sweden has a large and politically active Kurdish population. Turkey has long pressured the Swedish government to clamp down on the Kurdish diaspora in the country in return for its approval of the Nordic country’s NATO membership bid.
NATO membership applications require unanimous ratification by all alliance members.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly accused Sweden of harboring and supporting “terrorists” from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and sought the extradition of alleged PKK members in exchange for opening the door to NATO to Sweden.
Sweden responded by tightening its anti-terrorism legislation and taking other security steps demanded by Erdoğan.
Ankara ratified Sweden’s ascension to NATO last week after keeping the issue in limbo for almost two years.
Irandoust said some believe Sweden decided to end the Kurdish broadcast in order to appease Ankara and in exchange for its support to join NATO.
Sveriges Radio will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. It said they will also stop their Tigrinya and Russian services in late March.