İstanbul’s Açık Radyo (Open Radio), whose broadcasts were silenced last month by Turkish authorities after a guest spoke on air about “Armenian genocide,” will continue its broadcast as of next week as an online radio station under a new name, the station announced on X.
The new name of the station will be Apaçık Radyo, which means “more open radio.”
In a move that attracted domestic and international condemnation, Açık Radyo was closed on October 16, six months after a guest talked about the mass killing of Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire as a “genocide.” It is a term many historians agree on, but which Turkey fiercely disputes.
But the radio station has vowed to fight on and find a way to keep working.
The station announced on X on Thursday that it has already started its test broadcasts as an online radio station and will officially be launched on Monday.
💬Bugün verecek çok haberimiz var, öncelikle büyük haberi verelim: Test yayını başlıyor!
Üç gün sürecek ve müzikten ibaret olacak bu test yayınını dinlemenizi, “Şimdi ve Burada!” diyeceğimiz zaman ve yeri öğrenmek için de takipte kalmanızı öneririz! (Böylece, belki çeşitli… pic.twitter.com/jqkiE1kcZR
— Açık Radyo (@acikradyo) November 7, 2024
The station’s co-founder and editor-in-chief, Ömer Madra, also a prominent environmental activist, told BBC Turkish service that there will not be much change in the station’s editorial policy and that its broadcasts will now be aired on the internet round the clock.
“There will be no other major difference,” Madra added.
The station’s broadcasting license was suspended by Turkey’s media watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), for five days in May on the allegation of inciting hatred.
The media regulator subsequently withdrew the station’s license in July, but the radio continued to broadcast until its closure on October 16.
The station, which had been broadcasting for three decades, describes itself as a station “open to all sounds, colors and vibrations of the universe.” Its broadcasts addressed human rights, minority rights and ecological issues, among other topics.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounced Açık Radyo’s closure, saying the station “embodied pluralist information, respect for cultural and political minorities, as well as the fight for the climate and ecological awareness.”
On October 25 Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg visited the Açık Radyo office in İstanbul and expressed her support for the station, calling for the continuation of its broadcasts.
“Open Radio should stay open! I support Açık Radyo. It is more important than ever that we have honest media platforms that tell the truth about the climate crisis and human rights,” the 21-year-old activist said on X.
Turkey, which has a poor record on freedom of the press, was ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).