Türkiye opens the door to foreign investment in television

Parliament has approved a bill that will allow foreign companies to own up to 50 percent of the media, vetoed until now, also opening the possibility of broadcasting in languages ​​other than Turkish to all radios and televisions in the country.

Parliament has approved a bill that will allow foreign companies to own up to 50 percent of the media, vetoed until now, also opening the possibility of broadcasting in languages ​​other than Turkish to all radios and televisions in the country.

The possibility of broadcasting in languages ​​other than Turkish was until now limited to a small number of channels with a special license, while the limit on foreign ownership of broadcasters was 25 percent.

Parliament passed a law in May 2008 allowing the state-run Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) to broadcast one of its channels exclusively in Kurdish. Along with this channel, called TRT 6, a total of 14 broadcats already had a special license granted by the Higher Council of Radio and Television (RTÜK) to broadcast in languages ​​other than Turkish.

The law currently being processed provides, on the other hand, that the prime minister may have the authority to apply temporary bans on dissemination in the event that national security or public order is compromised.