Turkey’s opposition TV channels have enjoyed high ratings in recent years. Demand is high – there are few free media left, and millions of Turks are trying to hear a different point of view, in an environment in which, as the opposition claims, most of the media are directly or indirectly dependent on the Turkish government.

We visited the offices and studios of “Tele 1”. This is one of the media that resists and harshly criticizes the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It’s a small TV network, but it has millions of viewers. Almost every day they are among the media that set the country’s agenda. We watch the program “18 minutes”, in which the hosts comment on the events of the day. Listening to what they say in the editorial office, you remember the Gallic village of Asterix. Small but strong, with a spirit of resistance. Confirmation comes at the same time as the association: the news of the new punishment imposed on Tele 1 by the Broadcasting Council appears on the screen.

Merdan Yanardag, owner and CEO of Tele 1, smiles and explains that “in our TV show, we said that the AKP government is leading the country towards a religious, fascist and authoritarian system. In fact, we made a criticism in the context of journalistic freedom. We expressed our opinion yesterday, and today the Television and Television Council immediately decided on a fine. Last week we were banned for 5 days. As soon as we got back on the air, this punishment came, because Radio and Television functioned as a court. We have to pay a fine of 3% of our monthly turnover. We must do this immediately, and if we are acquitted in court, it will be returned to us. This is a big financial burden. Since they can’t stop at criminal courts, they are trying to silence us with financial pressure.”

Tele 1, which has offices on the third floor of a large building on the European side of Istanbul and employs 137 employees, journalists and technicians, as well as a 24-hour news and news program, is trying to resume normal traffic. Mr Janardag, who studied sociology with an MA and PhD, is an experienced journalist, has written several books and highlights that in 2022 alone, the broadcaster in question was fined £8 million (€400,000) and blocked for five days as well as bans on broadcasting certain programs.

Since 2010

“I have been a journalist since 1985. This government has revoked my press card! For so many years I have worked in so many newspapers and on television that I can say that attempts to control the state and pressure on the media began in 2010, that’s when anti-democratic practices began. I have never seen such a repressive period towards the media in the history of Turkey. And during the periods of the military junta, because I resisted in 1980 and was imprisoned, even during that period I think that the media were freer and the courts were more fair. There was pressure, torture, but then the guys were kept. Now you are being judged for hypothetical things and judged ideologically.”

He tells us that his trial is ongoing because on the air he opposed the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque. I am accused of “inciting hatred and enmity and inciting discord. It was a mistake, it should have remained a museum, it is a symbol of peace. And at the opening they read the prayer of Alosia. This is interpreted as an invasion! This is the logic of the Middle Ages,” he tells us. He was recently banned from leaving the country for yet another comment about the devastating earthquake in Turkey.

They face prosecution and unbearable fines every day: “They can’t stop us with criminal courts and they try to silence us with financial pressure.”

Tele 1 in Istanbul has two studios and a medium sized newsroom. It cannot be compared to the massive infrastructure and huge buildings of Turkey’s pro-government television networks. But he has more television views than them! “Our news releases are objective and we follow all the rules of journalism. But when we comment on events, we must be free. Turkey is being led by the current government into a medieval milieu of Islam that continues to exist even today. We also express our objection to this,” Mr. Janardag tells us.

Tele 1 also gathers an audience of thousands on YouTube. “We have a big attraction as people perceive our sincerity. We didn’t bow our heads. It was not possible to redeem us, although there were attempts. Since this failed, a lot of pressure began. People saw that we were resisting injustice and trying to deliver real news.”

Spectator Sponsorship

Mr. Janardag tells us that no public sector company does advertising. To endure the financial burden, they found a new method: viewership sponsorship. “We have, perhaps, one of the most democratic funding models for survival. Our viewers can and do sponsor our shows or newsletters. We cannot give high salaries. Many of our colleagues could switch to other chains for double or triple pay. They stay because they believe that under media siege, we are fighting to open a window of freedom. We do not have a political party that would support us. 30% of our income comes from viewer sponsorships.”

Tele 1 has offices and studios in Izmir, Ankara, as well as correspondents abroad. The CEO of Tele 1 states that “we have not received advertising from the private sector before either. But since our audience has grown, private companies could not remain indifferent and are now advertising.”

He argues that the Erdogan-Pahçeli alliance will be defeated by a wide margin in the May presidential elections. He points out that “it’s not just the financial crisis. The Turkish people have both the basis of enlightenment and the culture of secularism. Now we have a big economic crisis, inequality, democratic institutions have collapsed, we have a sultan’s regime, and we have come to a religious, fascist authoritarian regime. Well, it’s a political and financial bankrupt.”

When we asked him how, despite accusations of press freedom in Turkey, the Erdogan government cites the activities of several critical newspapers and TV channels, he told us: “Yes, but they continue to impose fines and obstacles on them. Only I have 32 trials!”.