Peter Skaarup, the vice chairman of the Danish People's Party, on Wednesday criticized the government and Justice Minister Lars Barfoed, claiming a special commission must be established to scrutinize the Roj TV investigation itself.
The Danish daily Berlingske Tidende, which has extensively written on Roj TV previously, ran a story on Wednesday claiming that only one officer has been assigned to investigate Roj TV's alleged links to the PKK. The newspaper asserted that this is the primary reason why the case has been continuing years despite repeated calls from Ankara for measures to be taken against Roj TV. Danish authorities have responded to Turkey's calls, saying the investigation should first be concluded.
Roj TV, which Turkey has long said is a mouthpiece for the outlawed PKK, continues to broadcast with a Danish license. The daily also reported the same officer is also busy collecting evidence on criminal gang warfare -- one of the Amsterdam's largest problems. Observers note this illustrates the country's indifference to the case.
In early April of last year, former Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who is now NATO's new secretary-general, faced opposition to his appointment from NATO-member Turkey due to the way he handled the infamous “cartoon crisis” in 2006 and his country's indifference to Roj TV's links to the terrorist organization. Rasmussen also had a personal clash with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2005 when Danish authorities refused to bar a reporter from Roj TV from a conference hall where Erdoğan and Rasmussen were scheduled to hold a joint press conference. At the last minute Erdoğan refused to attend the conference.
“Usually, terror investigations have a privilege in terms of priority. Both intelligence agencies and police jointly work in coordination. But it seems there are many faults both in coordination and cooperation with respect to this particular investigation,” Skaarup said.
Danish prosecutor Lise-Lotte Nilas, who has ultimate say in the investigation, is expected to present his assessment to the Justice Ministry, but it is not yet known when he will do that. Speaking to Today's Zaman last week, Nilas said the completion of the investigation will be in a “matter of months.” However, Justice Minister Barfoed said while he was testifying before the Danish Parliament's Law Commission last month that he had no idea why the Roj TV investigation was taking so long.
