Pleas sign & distribute
Bitte unterzeichnen & verbreiten
ROJ TV INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN
Lucina Kathmann
International Vice-President, International PEN (worldwide writers’ association)
Apdo. 287, San Miguel de Allende
37700 Gto. México
To whom it may concern,
GERMAN GOVERNMENT
I am writing to encourage all parties involved to find an amicable solution to the current problems about Roj TV. Kurdish people everywhere need this station. They have very few media in their language. Print media cannot substitute as some Kurdish people can read one alphabet and others can read another. Whatever the disagreements about what is broadcast, please do not consider closing down the station as a reasonable punishment. That disposition impoverishes the lives of many women and children. Typically disputes have to do with news programs and politics, which are only a small part of the services Roj TV provides. Closing the station is a disproportional response; please seek a more balanced solution.
Lucina Kathmann
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
ON THE BANNING OF THE KURDISH ROJ TV STATION IN GERMANY
INTERNATIONAL APPEAL AND SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN
The Copenhagen Criteria, the basis for Turkey’s EU accession process, sets as a condition the free and unimpeded use of the Kurdish language.
But the German Interior Minister is practising the opposite of what he preaches: Herr Schäuble is banning the only Kurdish TV broadcaster that operates all over the world and covers all aspects of culture and news. Millions of people watch this channel daily all over the world and set great store by it.
It belongs to them – not to any party.
VOICE OF MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURE BANNED
Roj TV is the voice of the people of Kurdistan, and is living proof of the existence of the Kurdish language. People from all heritages are shown extensively in its broadcasts; Roj TV is against war, argues energetically for a just peace, and has denounced human rights violations in Turkey as no other media have done; it has condemned racism and nationalism. Women get to speak on Roj TV, against honour killings, genital mutilation and violence within families.
The Turkish state has tried to block this by signal disruption, dismantling of satellite antennae, and by illegal persecution. Without succeeding!
But they have succeeded now with the Interior Minister of the Federal Republic. Minister Schäuble has banned the station, had studios closed, confiscated all the equipment, and threatens with fines. At the same time Herr Schäuble is exerting considerable pressure on the Danish government to likewise bn and close down Roj TV in Denmark. Wolfgang Schäuble is abusing the democratic rights of Article 5 of the German Grundgesetz (Basic Law) to achieve foreign policy objectives, which only serve the interests of European elites and not the people of Europe.
For more information look the attachement please!
