BBC cuts off Erdoğan aide Gülnur Aybet’s remarks reminding UK’s anti-terror law in HardTalk

Gülnur Aybet, an aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, gave an interview to BBC's Stephen Sackur on Monday, with some of her remarks being cut off from the HardTalk episode.

Arguing with Aybet over academics that signed a declaration in favor of PKK, an internationally recognized terrorist group, Sackur criticized Turkey for the prosecution. When the Professor said that glorifying terrorism is an unacceptable crime and it is also punishable by seven years in prison under the anti-terror laws of the U.K., BBC editors apparently thought those remarks were out of the line and cut them off the actual broadcast.

"But on the other hand there were a number of academics who put their signature on a declaration that openly glorified terrorism at a time of heightened security and national security for Turkey and they were under the law: the crime of glorifying terrorism under which you can be prosecuted and put in the jail," Aybet said first, later reminding Sackur that his country also has a similar law.

"In fact this is also the law here in the UK as well. You go to jail for up to seven years in prison if you glorify terrorism. So those were that group. The other group that were convicted who were academics belong to the FETÖ terrorist organization who were behind the in coup attempt in 2016," she added, pointing to the Gülenist terror group run by Fetullah Gülen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.