February 3, 2006

The 8 artists who filed complaints against the Polyphonic Music Manager at the TRT (Turkish Radio Television Institutions) Ergin Erenoğlu have been demoted.

Protesting this event, the President of Haber-Sen, the Union of News Workers, Esin Yelekçi, called attention to the attempts by f the ruling Justice and Development Party (JDP) to staff the government institutions with political allies. Esin Yelekçi said, “They have made the Radio Television Institution look like a religious sect.”

Meanwhile, the argument over Ergin Erenoğlu’s scolding the TRT artists for listening to Pavarotti continues. Manager Ergin Erenoğlu had accused the artists with treason to their country for listening to Pavarotti. Eight artists had filed a complaint about the incident, but the management has started an investigation against these 8 chorus singers. The singers had filed charges with the District Attorney against their manager after being told that they had been wrong for more than 35 years for listening to decadent music.

Esin Yelekçi said the President of the Ankara TRT, Şenol Göka was asked how he would respond to the charges, but his answer was, “Go and file charges wherever you want. But you will have to face the consequences of your action.” Yelekçi, the President of the news workers union, Haber-Sen, reminded that the oppression on the artists had gone so far as to demote their ranks and said, “They messed with the qualification ranking of the artists and their wages were decreased. This way they are trying to scare off the workers and try to minimize their reactions.”

The President of the union, Esin Yelekçi repeated his claim that “religious rule propaganda” was being made form TV and radio stations and any thought, news or an art event that did not reflect the JDP’s mentality was censured, harming the independent status of the TRT. He also called attention to the JDP’s attempts to staff every institution with their members and said the current government made the TRT look like a broadcast institution of a religious sect. He said the Government was working in TRT with people who were outside the institution and who had no responsibilities at TRT and claimed, “When we look at all those programs made to remember our past, we see that they do not reflect our past and have been prepared with a different framework and a view.” Yelekçi also said the managers at the TRT have been silent for the last two years against the government censure and now they are choosing to stay silent on this issue. He complained that although they had requested a meeting with the TRT Deputy General Manager Ali Güney, no response came from the institution. He demanded that the TRT management apologize from the artists.

Source: Cumhuriyet
M.B.