In a statement made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before his visit to Northern Cyprus on 19 July, he said that it was the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) that requested the reduction of live broadcastings from the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). The TBMM Television Presidency on the other hand had initially announced that there was no such request of the political power involved in the new limited broadcasting hours.

The live broadcasts from parliament were recently reduced to five hours on three days per week. The news had it that the AKP demanded to reduce the broadcast because of "propaganda of the opposition". Another reason reported was that "parliamentary sessions were extended because a show was being staged for the electorate".

When bianet called the TBMM Television Presidency for further information in the beginning of this week, it was said that they had not received an according request from the political power. The TBMM Television Presidency put forward that the long standing protocol with the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) had not been renewed. There was no concrete information about the reasons.

Prime Minister Erdoğan made the following statement to journalists at the Esenboğa Airport in Ankara on 19 July:

"We said 'Let's have some flexibility here' when we came. We made an attempt to achieve that. We had a look but we realized that this is just the view of a show. We finally considered the complaints of our people and forwarded our opinion to TRT and to the TBMM. We said that what was done before our term was appropriate to be continued. The protocol enforced right now is the one applied before our term. This is the truth of the matter".

Erdoğan said that allegations of trying to restrict the voice of the opposition were false.

TBMM President Cemil Çiçek answered journalists' questions on the matter at the Department of National Palaces in Dolmabahçe Palace (Istanbul) on Thursday (21 July). He said, "Turkey is an open society. Even here there are many cameras and microphones. The restriction of anybody's opinion in Turkey is not an issue".

The criticism of the opposition has not abated yet. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy of Hatay, Adnan Şefik Çirkin, addressed TBMM President Çiçek in writing and demanded to review the decision related to TBMM TV. (ÖÖ/ŞA)