ATR (TV Channel)

The channel began broadcasting on September 1, 2006 on the 27th air channel in Simferopol . In 2011, the channel got an investor Lenur Islyamov (owner of 97% of the shares, 3% owned by the former owners of the channel). In 2012, the channel went on round-the-clock broadcasting on the Astra satellite. The number of employees increased from 30 to 200 ^[2] . The audience of the channel is about 5 million viewers ^[3] . On December 1, 2012, the program “Moscow Meetings with Matvey Ganapolsky ” began to appear on the channel. In January 2013, ATR opened a bureau in Kiev ^[4] , in May in Istanbul ^[5] , and in September in Moscow ^[6] . In 2013, ATR made its first feature film, Haytarma . In November 2013, ATR began filming the historical series “ Haji Giray 's Stars” worth $ 2 million ^[7] .

During the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation, the television channel advocated the territorial integrity of Ukraine ^[8] and broadcast live events in Crimea ^[9] .

In May 2014, ATR TV Channel Director General Elzara Islyamova announced her intention to open a bureau in Tatarstan ^[10] , but this month it was announced that ATR was closing its bureaus in Kiev, Moscow and Istanbul ^[11] . In August 2014, a group of deputies of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea demanded that ATR correspondent Shevket Namatullaev be deprived of accreditation because he did not stand up during the performance of the Russian anthem ^[12] . In November 2014, the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine called on providers to relay ATR ^[13] . On November 3, 2014, the channel was awarded the Ismail Gasprinsky Prize in the field of journalism and the protection of human rights in the nomination “Television of the Turkic world” ^[14] .

On January 26, 2015, searches were conducted by police and riot police in the building of the channel. Law enforcement authorities seized information about the rally on February 26, 2014 near the building of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea ^[15] . The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the search on ATR ^{[16] [17]} .

Close

On March 19, 2015, the Head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, stated that it had been clarified to the channel’s leadership that the situation would be aggravated and a feeling of tension caused by the channel giving hope for the return of Crimea to Ukraine, inciting other people to action, It’s unacceptable to talk about how they will deal with those who received Russian passports later in the current paramilitary period ^[18] .

On March 25, 2015, the ATR telethon “Don’t kill ATR!” Began, as Roskomnadzor refused to register the TV channel under Russian law ^[19] . The air of ATR has a clock that counts the time until the broadcast stops. The Council under the President of the Russian Federation on the development of civil society and human rights appealed to Roskomnadzor with a request to prevent the termination of broadcasting of the ATR channel and other media in the Crimean Tatar language ^[20] . The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people stated that the refusal to register a TV channel violates article 16 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ^[21] . Chairman of the Mejlis Refat Chubarov also ceased to be the owner of 1% of the channel’s shares, since, according to Russian law, only citizens of Russia can be founders of the media ^[22] .

On March 31, an open day was held in the building of the channel, where about 100 people came ^[23] .

On April 1, 2015, at 00:00, the channel stopped broadcasting due to non-receipt of re-registration. Together with him, the children's television channel Lale, the radio stations Meydan-FM and Lider, which are part of the APR information holding, stopped working ^[24] . The next day, all the employees of the channel went to work. Director General Elzar Islyamova said that they will now be engaged in the production of documentaries ^[25] dedicated to the children of war, the first returnees. In May, the ATR newsroom on the channel’s website began publishing stories in real time news format; it is planned to reach the level of 12 stories a day (as during the work of the channel on the air) ^[26] .

Closing Reaction

Crimean Tatars of Kyrgyzstan advocated preserving the television channel ^[27] . March 28, 2015 in Kiev on Independence Square held an action in support of ATR, which was attended by singer Jamala ^[28] .

Concern over the closure of the ATR was expressed by the chairman of the Presidium of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the European part of Russia and the chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia Ravil Gainutdin ^[29] . Crimean Tatars living in Kazakhstan shot a video in support of the ATR channel ^[30] . On March 30, seven students were detained in Simferopol who were recording a video in support of ATR ^[31] . The “Association for the Protection of Repressed Peoples”, the organization “Youth of European Peoples”, the Federalist Union of European Peoples, the Institute of Caucasian, Tatar and Turkestan Studies also supported the channel ^[32] .

The channel was supported by: Rector of the Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University Fevzi Yakubov ^[33] , former Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Leonid Grach ^[34] , actor and director Akhtem Seytablaev ^[35] , member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Rights human Nikolai Svanidze ^[36] , chairman Dukhovny control Crimean Muslims , Mufti Crimean Emirali Ablaev ^[37] , the former head Bakhchsarai State Administration Ilmi Umerov ^[38] , journalists Ajder Muzhdabaev ^[39] and Maxim Shevchenko ^[40] , pisat l Vladimir Voinovich ^[41] , former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov ^[42] , the President of Ukraine Petr Poroshenko, ^[43] and the Minister of Culture of Ukraine Vyacheslav Kyrylenko ^[44] .

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine condemned the closure of ATR ^[45] . The European Foreign Service called the closure of the channel a violation of the right to freedom of speech and called for the restoration of ATR broadcasting ^[46] . Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius stated that the closure of the ATR is a continuation of repressions in Crimea ^[47] . The head of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine Vyacheslav Kirilenko expressed the idea to transfer part of the editorial office to the mainland of Ukraine and broadcast the channel signal, including to the Crimea ^[48] . According to Refat Chubarov, it is planned to launch a European media and cultural project for Crimean Tatars in early summer, in which ATR journalists will take part ^[49] .

The closure of the channel was one of the topics of discussion between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in early April 2015. Earlier, the Turkish Foreign Ministry expressed concern about the refusal to register Crimean Tatar media under Russian law ^[50] . The US Department of State also condemned the cessation of ATR broadcasting. ^[51]

Reasons to close

The transition period for the Crimean media in November 2014 was extended to April 1, 2015. During this period, the registration of mass media whose products are intended for distribution on the territory of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation was carried out according to a special procedure, without charging a state duty.

According to CPJ , 232 or 8% of the media outlets were re-registered at Roskomnadzor, among them 3 (out of 13) were Crimean Tatar media ^[52] .

Some of the official reasons according to the TV channel ^[53] : November 14, 2014 - improper certification of copies of documents (documents were corrected and sent again); January 26, 2015 - the state duty paid on incorrect details (copies of payment documents are not publicly presented).

The head of Roskomnadzor, Alexander Zharov, stated that there was no intention to disconnect the TV channel from state authorities, the TV channel’s shutdown in Crimea was initiated by the owners ^[54] , “The TV channel was going to submit registration documents. Documents that were filed four times were all incomplete four times. ” He also spoke about obtaining the broadcasting permission as quickly as possible if the agency would be sent a full set of relevant documents ^[55] .

The Russian Foreign Ministry called the attempts to interpret the closure of the channel “infringement on the freedom of speech and the rights of the Crimean Tatar media” as “baseless and outrageous." “The time since May 2014 was quite enough for conscientious and correct execution of all necessary documents. One gets the impression that the real reason for the cessation of broadcasting is the deliberate sabotage by the owners of the media holding of the requirements of Russian law ” ^[56] .

Roskomnadzor, through the press service ^[57] and its Facebook page ^[58], invited the OSCE representative on media freedom, Dunya Miyatovich, to familiarize himself with the documents sent to Roskomnadzor by ATR to register the Russian media. Miyatovich responded to the proposal, but requested an official invitation through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation ^[59] , which, by her status, was not necessary.

The owners of the media holding, who disagree with the refusal of registration, had the right to go to court, both in Russian jurisdiction and in European, as Russia is under the influence of many international treaties. However, the owners did not take any steps in this direction.

On June 17, 2015, the television channel resumed broadcasting, broadcasting its programs from Kiev ^{[60] [61]} . In Crimea, the channel is available only on satellite TV . Chairman of the Committee on Information Policy, Communications and Mass Communications of Crimea Sergey Shuvaynikov said that the journalists of the TV channel will be held criminally liable for the content of the materials if they do not comply with the laws of the Russian Federation ^[62] .

Sergei Shuvaynikov himself described the situation ^[63] :

Anna Opanasyuk and Maria Opanasyuk, participants of the Anna Maria Maria duet, were shown by one of the spectators during the live broadcast of the PRIME: Skrypin TV program on ATR TV channel. ^{[64] [65]}

“ Well, such a call, ” TV presenter Skrypin responded. A live phone call rang after repeated attempts by presenter Roman Skrypin to find out the girls' attitude to the Russian-Ukrainian war . ^[66]

On the air of the TV program “PRIME: Skrypin” to Roman Skrypin’s question “ Whose Crimea?” "The participants of the Anna-Maria duet replied:" Crimea is ours, because it is our home. Mine with my sister. We were born there, we started singing there . ” After that, Anna Opanasyuk (one of the sisters) added: “ It seems to me that Ukraine simply lost the Crimea. This is our opinion. Many politicians can say that Crimea is ours from the Ukrainian side. We say that this is our home. But, as our fellow countryman Alexander Usik said, we can say many times that Crimea is ours, but we are going home across two borders . ” ^[67]

At the same time, the artists assured that they would not go to the Kremlin Palace before Putin if they were invited. And when the singers were asked to determine their position and answer whether they think that in March 2014 Russia occupied Crimea , which is Ukrainian, they did not want to answer. “ Listen, we are not indulging in the presidency of Ukraine. We simply won’t answer this question, because we are not politicians. We are not members of the president’s secretariat to answer such difficult political questions, ”the artists said. ^[68]

• General Director (June 2015 - present) - Lenur Islyamov
• General Director (June 2011 - June 2015) - Elzara Islyamova
• Deputy General Director for Information Policy (January 2012 - April 2015) - Lilia Budzhurova

Programs

• Official site (Russian)