The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has filed a criminal complaint against the state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) for causing public harm, the Diken news agency reported on Thursday.
According to the report, the HDP accused TRT, which is responsible for public broadcasting, of not covering news about their party, abuse of duty and preventing communication with the public.
The HDP argued that TRT never broadcast their parliamentary group meetings and censured them between Jan. 3 and June 13.
“The TRT news channel, which is financed by the taxes of all citizens and which is bound by the constitution to run public broadcasting in an equal and objective manner, is ignoring the second biggest opposition party, the HDP, in its live broadcasts and acting as if there are only three political parties in the Turkish Grand National Assembly,” said the petition submitted by the HDP to the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
The TRT broadcasts were criticized by the HDP for ignoring the principle of equal opportunity for political parties and democratic groups and for preventing the public from freely forming opinions.
Referring to the biased live broadcasts of TRT in the lead-up to the Nov. 1, 2016 general elections, the HDP accused TRT management of violating their own principles of objectivity and truth and causing public harm.
The HDP also announced on its Twitter feed that they would demand TL 1 in damages.