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No HDP members appear on Turkish national TV for more than a year

A report on the media coverage of political parties has revealed that pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) members have not been invited to appear on top TV news channels for more than a year, the tr724 news website reported.

According to the report news stations NTV, CNN Türk and Habertürk have not aired any HDP parliamentary group meetings since March 17, 2015. During the last such meeting broadcast by top TV news channels, the HDP’s then-Co-chairperson Selahattin Demirtaş said they would not allow then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to become president.

Demirtaş has been in prison since Nov. 4, 2016.

The report also reveals that as of March 28, 2018, no HDP members had appeared as guests on CNN Türk for 650 days, NTV for 883 days and Habertürk for 751 days.

The HDP was only allotted three hours on state-run TRT during the April 1-June 7, 2015 election campaign period, while Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) appeared for 188 hours, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) for 14 hours and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 7.5 hours. In the same period private TV channels A Haber, ATV, Kanal 24, Beyaz TV, Ülke TV, TGRT, Kanal 7 and Kanal A covered the HDP for a total of 492 minutes, but 415 of them were taken up by anti-HDP propaganda.

During the campaign leading up to the Nov. 1, 2015 elections, TRT and 12 national TV channels aired AKP Chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu for 310 hours, CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for 44 hours, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli for 29 hours and HDP Co-chairperson Demirtaş for six hours.

According to the report, President Erdoğan appeared for 806 hours on 12 TV news channels in the month prior to a referendum on April 1, 2017, while the CHP appeared for 480 hours, the MHP for 24.5 hours and the HDP just 58 minutes.

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