The European broadcasting service provider Eutelsat has decided to remove the Copenhagen-based Kurdish television station ROJ-TV from its satellite, despite Roj-TV having appealed a recent verdict that the station was a mouthpiece for the PKK.

Despite the verdict that Roj-TV both received funding and was a mouthpiece for an organisation on the EU and U.S. terrorism lists, legal technicalities prevented the court from withdrawing the station’s broadcasting licence.

Roj-TV has appealed the verdict to the High Court.

“Under the circumstances Eutelsat has decided to suspend Roj-TV on its satellites in order to avoid being liable for criminal responsibility for abetting terrorist activities,” Eutelsat said in a statement.

Despite Eutelsat’s decision, the station can still be seen in Denmark, Western Europe and parts of Turkey.

“Our broadcasts have not yet been stopped. But it is unjust that they have decided to do this based on a judgment that is not yet final,” says Roj-TV Director Imdat Yilmaz.

Nonetheless, while some European areas can still see broadcasts, Kurdish areas of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, called Kurdistan by Kurdish nationalists, can only see broadcasts with difficulty.

“We can, of course, see if there are other service providers. But for the moment we will see if we can develop our agreement with Aerobird so our broadcasts can be seen throughout the Middle East,” Imdat Yilmaz adds.

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