Arıboğan Fired From State-Run TRT Over Critical Tweet

Deniz Ülke Arıboğan, who hosted a TV program on state-run broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), has announced on Twitter that she has been fired.

Arıboğan, an academic, tweeted, “I have been removed from my job at the TRT program ‘Açı' (Angle), which I have been hosting for so many years.”

The host had tweeted earlier, criticizing a government-backed operation on Koza İpek Holding, writing: “Democracy is a regime deserved by those who protect it and who are worthy of it. There cannot be any mention of democracy in an environment where the media is not free.”

This tweet is said to be the reason for her dismissal, being perceived as a reaction to the raid on the media group to which the Bugün and Millet dailies, Bugün TV and Kanaltürk TV stations, and web portal BGNNews.com belong.

Auditors accompanied by a police escort raided the headquarters of Koza İpek Holding in Ankara on Tuesday morning, prompting domestic and international condemnation. (Cihan/Today's Zaman)