Halk TV has been seized. Its broadcasts have been suspended. In effect, this means shutting the channel down. You might ask: “Why seize a television channel like this? We no longer live in the era of a single broadcaster. People can watch whichever channel they want. If they don’t like it, they can switch it off.” But is it really that simple? No.
Halk TV is not a particularly old channel. It is almost the same age as the current government. It was established in 2005, shortly after the AKP came to power in 2002. Throughout years of uninterrupted single-party rule, Halk TV’s audience grew as the government consolidated its power and authority.
Turkey has long been polarized into two roughly equal camps. That is why Halk TV is not only a source of news for its viewers. It also offers them a chance to settle scores with the government from the other side of the screen.
WHO FOUNDED IT, AND WHO OWNS IT NOW?
So who founded Halk TV? It was Deniz Baykal, then the chair of the CHP, in 2005. More precisely, he had it set up. In 2020, Baykal’s daughter, Aslı Baykal, sold Halk TV to its current owner, Cafer Mahiroğlu.
And who is Mahiroğlu? Little was known about him until he bought Halk TV. The channel also marked his first venture into the media. Even afterward, with investigations launched against him, only fragments of information have emerged about this person who lives abroad. He is known to have spent many years in the textile business in London. From there, he became the owner of Halk TV.
In fact, Aydın Doğan was the last person in Turkey who truly deserved the title “media boss.” Having reached the height of his influence in the 1990s, he never found common ground with the AKP government. He eventually sold all his media outlets and withdrew from the sector. Today, he is a “retired media boss”.
Now it is said that “Halk TV belongs to its employees.” But that is not the reality. And, unfortunately, that is precisely the painful part. What is needed is a media organization owned by the journalists themselves — journalists working solely to inform the public.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE EMPLOYEES AND VIEWERS?
As we have said, Halk TV was more than a news channel for its viewers. It was also a place where they could enjoy seeing those in power challenged. Those viewers will now feel a void.
But what about the employees, whose lives are already so difficult and exhausting? Is anyone thinking about the staff who struggle to make ends meet amid an unending economic crisis, some perhaps already up to their necks in debt?
If there are investigations into the owner’s business dealings and companies, nobody can stop that? They will probably be pursued to the very end. But what do you want from the channel and its employees?
It is always the same story. The powerful fight, and the powerless caught in the middle — the employees — take the beating. Sadly.
