All news

US wants Denmark to shut down Kurdish TV station: source

COPENHAGEN, June 19, 2006 (AFP) - Denmark is under continuing pressure from the United States to withdraw the broadcast license and pull the plug on the Kurdish television channel Roj TV, Danish government sources said Monday.

Turkey, which has also appealed for the closure of Roj TV, has accused the channel of being a mouthpiece for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an armed separatist group considered a terrorist organization by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.

"It is known that the United States wants to close down the (Kurdish) station and they have stressed that on several occasions to (Danish) authorities," said a source close to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who requested anonymity.

Another government source added: "In any case, the Danish government cannot shut down a television channel. It is up to the courts to determine if Roj TV had broken any Danish law and if its license should be revoked."

According to public radio Danmarks Radio (DR), the US embassy in Ankara contacted the Danish mission there on April 7 and characterized Roj TV as a voice for the PKK.

Then on April 10, it said, the Danish foreign ministry received a message from Washington entitled: "Renewed call from the United States to shut down Roj TV".

Roj TV has been based in Denmark since 2004. Ankara accuses the channel of inciting hatred by openly supporting the PKK, which has been battling Turkish troops in southern Turkey since 1984 in its fight for a separate Kurdish homeland.