Crisis Continues In Pakistan Over Turkey Earthquake Aid: Famous Journalist Banned
While earthquakes, whose epicenter was Kahramanmaraş, suffocated Turkey, the debate on earthquake aid in one country led to a crisis.
Pakistan was one of the first countries to send aid to Turkey after the earthquakes, and the country’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also visited Turkey and met with President Tayyip Erdogan.
A claim about earthquake aid sent to Turkey generated a great deal of controversy in the country. Shahid Masud, one of the country’s best-known journalists, made a shocking claim in a live broadcast, claiming that the aid packages sent by Pakistan to Turkey were the packages that Turkey sent to the country in the flood disaster that occurred in Pakistan last year.
Masud said that the aid packages sent by Turkey were returned as they were, bearing the banners ‘Government of Sindh’ and ‘Government of Pakistan’. The Pakistani press also commented: “If this claim is true, Pakistan will face great international embarrassment.”
Dr. Shahid Masud is one of the famous names in Pakistani television
‘THE DAMAGE TO RELATIONS WITH TURKEY’
Pakistan’s media monitoring agency Pemra has placed a screen ban on the famous journalist, arguing that Masud, who made the claim yesterday, made “fake news”. Pemra stated that the accusation Masud made on his own show was “totally baseless” and that the accusation was for propaganda purposes against the Pakistani government.
The statement stated that this news caused great damage to diplomatic relations with the “friendly country Turkey” and Masud was banned from appearing on television for two weeks.
In the statement, it was also noted that the Pakistani embassy in Turkey was also looking into the issue, with Masud apologizing live for the news.