Turkey’s pro-opposition Sozcu TV went off the air at midnight on Wednesday after the Radio and Television Supreme Council enforced a 10-day suspension, accusing the station of “inciting hatred and enmity” through its live coverage of protests. An Ankara court rejected the channel’s final appeal earlier in the week. Launched in 2023 as the broadcast arm of the secular Sozcu newspaper, the channel said it will continue its legal battle to resume programming before the blackout ends. The penalty is the most visible step in a broader clampdown that began with the 19 March jailing of Istanbul’s opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on corruption charges, a move that triggered the country’s largest demonstrations in more than a decade. Since then authorities have detained or arrested mayors in at least four other cities, all held by the Republican People’s Party, which last year overtook President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP with 37.8% of the local-election vote. Human Rights Watch said the regulator is acting as “an arm of the presidency,” while media analysts warn that Ankara aims to keep opposition outlets on air but stripped of critical content. Separate investigations have recently targeted prominent journalists Fatih Altayli and Timur Soykan, underscoring what press-freedom groups describe as an escalating effort to narrow Turkey’s public discourse ahead of future elections.