EU Minister Bagis critizes Denmark

Bringing prohibitions against Denmark’s Roj TV, which is widely seen as a mouthpiece for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, would go a long way to improving Turkish-Danish bilateral ties, according to a senior government minister. “Roj TV casts a shadow on the relationship between Turkey and Denmark. We attach importance to the promises given by our allies and friends but now we expect these promises to turn into concrete results,” European Union Minister Egemen Bagis told reporters during a meeting with Danish Ambassador Ole Egberg Mikkelsen yesterday. Roj TV continues to broadcast from Denmark despite many years of complaints from Turkey. As a result of a heavy diplomatic campaign, a legal case has been launched against the channel by a Danish court; the case is expected to conclude within the next few months. “It’s saddening for us to see that one of our NATO allies still allows the broadcasting of Roj TV. We discussed this issue with the ambassador two-and-a-half years ago when he was first appointed to Turkey and today, when he is set to leave Turkey, it’s sorrowful that we are talking about the same issue,” Bagis said. Noting that the judicial process was continuing in Denmark, Bagis said he hoped the case would be swiftly concluded and that the channel would no longer be allowed to broadcast from the Scandinavian state. “The PKK is not just a terror organization. It’s also a dirty gang [that smuggles drugs among others things],” Bagis added. Mikkelsen, meanwhile, refused to comment on the Roj TV issue, saying he would not interfere in an ongoing legal process. Denmark will be the next EU term president after Poland in the first half of 2012.