ATR () is a Ukrainian TV Channel whose target audience is

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

. It was broadcasting in Crimea, Ukraine from 1 September 2006 until 1 April 2015 when it was forced to shut down by annexing Russian authorities after failing to register under Russian law.Crimean Tatar media 'silenced by Russia'

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

(1 April 2015) In mid-June 2015 the channel resumed its broadcasting in

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

Ukraine and has since then been located in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. When located in Crimea most of the channel's programs were in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

(60%) with 35% in Crimean Tatar and 5% in Ukrainian.Tatar ATP channel cease broadcasting on 1 April, if he does not get registered as a medium under Russian law.
Gazeta.ua (18 March 2015) The channel uses Tarak Tamga as its brand logo.

History

The channel began to broadcast on 1 September 2006. Since 2012 it has also been available via satellite. ATR's founder and owner is businessman Lenur İslâmov.Crimean Tatar TV channel faces shutdown on April 1

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is Ukraine’s first and most prominent English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1995 in Kyiv by American businessman Jed Sunden. In 2018, the publication was acquired by prominent Ukrainian businessman Adnan Kivan, foun ...

(31 March 2015) ATR ran strongly pro-Ukrainian coverage of the events leading up to the

2014 Crimean status referendum The Crimean status referendum of 2014 was a disputed referendum on March 16, 2014, concerning the status of Crimea that was conducted in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (both subdivisions of Ukraine) after Russ ...

that led to the March 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia. After the annexation ATR received a formal warning over "extremist activities" and although is stayed fairly critical, it avoided terms like "annexation" and "occupation". In 2015 the channel changed its programming; it cut political talk shows and news and instead focused on cultural programs. On 26 January 2015

OMON OMON is a system of military special police units within the Armed Forces of Russia. It previously operated within the structures of the Soviet and Russian Ministries of Internal Affairs (MVD). Originating as the special forces unit of the So ...

riot police officers blocked the channel's building and conducted searches as part of a criminal investigation into pro-Ukrainian rallies a year before. After a meeting with the channel's top managers of 21 March 2015, referring to the March 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia,

Head of the Republic of Crimea The Head of the Republic of Crimea is the highest official and the head of the executive power of the Republic of Crimea (Russia), Republic of Crimea; an internationally disputed Federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of the Russian Federat ...

Sergey Aksyonov Sergey Valeryevich Aksyonov (; ; ; born 26 November 1972) is a Russian politician serving as the head of the Republic of Crimea since 9 October 2014, a territory internationally recognised as part of Ukraine. Biography Sergey Aksyonov was ...

stated that ATR “gives a hope for the return of the Crimea in Ukraine – which is silly – and it will never happen”. On 18 March 2015 the channel stated that if they didn't get a broadcasting licence from Russian telecommunications regulator

Roskomnadzor The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as ''Roskomnadzor'' (RKN), is the Russian federal executive agency responsible for monitoring, controlling and censoring Russian mass media. ...

before 1 April 2015 it would have to stop broadcasting. Since October 2015 it had been trying to obtain this license. It did not obtain a license and thus shut down on 1 April 2015. Head of the Republic Aksyonov stated on 1 April 2015 "The channel is whipping up tensions and creating a sense of insecurity in the public by raising hopes that Crimea will return to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It has been explained to ATR's management that such channels cannot operate in our republic in this time of semi-war".

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

stated about ATR's shutdown "This blatant attack on freedom of expression, dressed up as an administrative procedure, is a crude attempt to stifle independent media, gag dissenting voices, and intimidate the Crimean Tatar community". Head of the Republic Aksyonov denied any political agenda behind the refusal of a licence for ATR and stated "They are making mistakes deliberately to create conflict around the channel". Other Crimean Tatar media requests for new licences were also denied and forced to shut down on 1 April 2015. Early May 2015 ATR's website resumed its activities.ATR world's only Crimean Tatar TV channel starts broadcasting on Internet

Interfax-Ukraine Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German. The company owns a 50-seat press centre. The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022) ...

(7 May 2015) On 18 June 2015 the channel resumed its broadcasting in

Ukraine and is since then located in

.Persecuted Crimean Tatar TV channel reopens in Kyiv

(18 June 2015)Crimean channel ATR resumes broadcasting in mainland Ukraine

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000. After Gongadze’s death in September 2000, the editorial team was led by co-founder Olena Prytula, who remained the editor-in ...

(4 June 2015) According to news reports ATR host Arkady Babchenko was shot and killed in Kyiv on 29 May 2018.Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko is shot and killed in Kiev

Meduza ''Meduza'' (Russian: Медуза, named after the Greek goddess Medusa) is a Russian- and English-language independent news website, headquartered in Riga, Latvia. It was founded in 2014 by a group of former employees of the then-independent ...

(29 May 2018). However, the next day, he appeared alive at a press conference with the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( ; abbreviated as SBU [] or SSU) is the main Internal security, internal security agency of the Government of Ukraine, Ukrainian government. Its main duties include counter-intelligence activity and combati ...

(SBU). According to the SBU Babchenko's 'murder' had been staged to expose Russian agents.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Television channels and stations established in 2006 Television channels and stations established in 2015 Ukrainian brands Ukrainian-language television stations in Ukraine Russian-language television stations in Ukraine Crimean Tatar-language television stations 2006 establishments in Ukraine 2015 establishments in Ukraine Television stations in Ukraine Television in minority languages