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Washington calls for Denmark to shut down
Kurdish TV "ROJ" station
22.11.2005
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COPENHAGEN, Nov
21 (AFP) - 20h15 - Washington has asked Denmark to
shut down a local Kurdish television station which
is under investigation for links to separatist
Kurdish rebels in Turkey, Danish media reported
Monday.
"We strongly urge the Danish government to shut down
and freeez the assets of Roj TV, Mesopotamia TV and
MBMG," the United States said in a confidential
request to the ministry of foreign affairs,
according to Danish daily Berlingske Tidende.
Turkey has repeatedly asked Danish authorities to
revoke the broadcasting license of Roj TV, which
cooperates with Mesopotamia TV and MBMG, on the
grounds that the station is linked to the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a militant group
deemed by Turkey, the European Union and the United
States to be a terrorist organization.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last
week went so far as to boycott a news conference in
Denmark attended by a Roj TV reporter.
"How can we come together in a press conference with
a member of a medium which is under the patronage of
a terrorist organization? That was not possible for
me," Erdogan said.
Denmark's broadcasting watchdog ruled at the
beginning of the year that Roj TV's programming did
not contain incitement to hatred of Turkey, and
Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller on Monday said he
had seen no proof that the station had links to the
PKK.
Washington however did not appear to agree.
"Given their inflammatory programming (and) their
links to the PKK front group, we believe these
entities should not enjoy a safe haven in Denmark,"
the letter reportedly stated.
It went on to imply that Denmark, by allowing the
broadcasts to continue, was helping the PKK, which
"depends heavily upon European sources for
financing, organizational support, recruiting and
propaganda operations".
Justice Minister Lene Espersen said on Monday that
the letter from Washington had been handed to Danish
police, who are conducting an investigation into Roj
TV's alleged ties with the Kurdish rebellion.
AFP
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