Danish PM Blames Turkey for Probe into Mayor Requests

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06.17.2006 Saturday - ISTANBUL 00:07

Danish PM Blames Turkey for Probe into Mayor Requests
By Cihan News Agency
Published: Friday, June 16, 2006
zaman.com

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has criticized the Turkish authorities for holding an inquiry about mayors, who wrote a letter to him urging him not to close down the Roj TV.

"They (mayors) are accused of violating the law since they wrote a letter to me, which I find very surprising", said Rasmussen in his remarks on Danish radio.

Rasmussen went on to say that it was "shocking" that such a case occurred in Turkey , a country which is seeking EU membership.

The Diyarbakir Chief Public Prosecution Office opened an investigation in early January against the mayors of 56 municipalities controlled by the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). The mayors in question had sent a letter to the Danish PM Rasmussen, urging him not to close down Roj TV, which broadcasts from the Danish capital, Copenhagen

Turkey has repeatedly asked the Danish authorities to close down Roj TV. However, the Danish authorities have refused to close down the channel.

During a visit to Copenhagen last December, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan left a joint press conference he was due to attend with the Danish PM Rasmussen because Roj TV representatives were in the press room.

Source : Zaman