Turkey takes 'pro-Kurdish' channel off air for 'terrorist propaganda'

Prosecutors in Ankara ordered Turkey's leading satellite operator Turksat to drop IMC TV, the TV channel said in a statement on Saturday.

Their request was immediately accepted and IMC TV was taken off air on Friday.

The channel was accused of "making propaganda for a terror organisation", which usually refers to information deemed supportive of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK].

The Turkish nationwide channel, which was founded in 2011, focuses on women's, leftist and environmental issues and is not "connected with any party of organisation," IMC TV's statement said.

"We will of course use all legal means to defend ourselves against these baseless accusations," it added.

IMC TV's internet stream continues to broadcast, however.

In recent weeks, Turkish authorities have carried out a string of arrests of journalists - raising concerns over the state of freedom of expression in turkey.

IMC TV's broadcast was cut during a live interview with two Turkish journalists released from prison after facing charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Turkey was the world's fifth-worst jailer of journalists last year, with 14 imprisoned as of December 1.

Turkey has also recently carried out a crackdown on dissenters, and arrested 21 academics who signed a petition denouncing military operations in Kurdish towns in the country's south-east.

The country has also gone after social media sites that allow content unfavourable to the Turkish government, such as fining Twitter $50,000 for not removing content deemed by Ankara as "terrorist propaganda".