The ZDF board of control monitors compliance with the programme guidelines and the principles laid down in the Interstate Broadcasting Treaty. The body is elected for four years, also advises ZDF on programming issues and is the contact for viewers.
It is all the more astonishing that a member of the TV advisory board belongs to an organisation that is being monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution – and is thus considered a potential threat to the free democratic basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The advisory board of broadcasting has 60 members from different areas of society. They are supposed to represent the diversity of society. Various organisations send representatives to the board. There are also government agencies, for example the federal government and the federal states.
The state of Lower Saxony has nominated Kerim Ocakdan for the current period of the committee, which runs until 2024. Ocakdan is the representative for the “Muslims” section. What is explosive, however, is that Ocakdan himself claims to be the chairman of the board of the Islamic Community Milli Görüs (IGMG) in Braunschweig. Obviously, no one had really noticed this until now. However, the fact that he is now once again on the council raises questions.
According to the latest report on the protection of the constitution, Milli Görüs is counted and observed as an Islamist organisation. Milli Görüs (in English: “National View”) originated in Turkey and advocates a “just order” based exclusively on Islamic principles. All Muslims should participate in the realisation of the “just order”.
To do this, they would have to adopt a certain attitude and gain a certain view of the world, namely a national and religious view. In plain language: The political order must be based on Sharia law – freedom of opinion, women’s rights and the separation of powers would be abolished. The fact that a functionary of such a questionable group sits on the TV advisory board at all raises questions.
The state of Lower Saxony could also have considered functionaries of other Islamic associations who are not in opposition to democracy in Germany. It is also striking that Ocakdan was already nominated by the state of Lower Saxony as a representative of Muslims in the previous term of office (2016 to 2020).
Why does the State Chancellery led by Minister President Stephan Weil (63, SPD) appoint someone from the same organisation, even from Milli Görüs, for the second time in a row? The State Chancellery has responded to an enquiry from this editorial office, informing us via a spokesperson: “The department responsible for media law and policy has been aware since summer 2020 that Mr Ocakdan is a functionary of Milli Görus in Braunschweig. There are no findings on a possible observation by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
The spokesperson continued: “The regional DITIB association of the Islamic religious community in Lower Saxony and Bremen, the Schura Lower Saxony and the Alevi Community of Germany jointly send a representative to the ZDF Television Advisory Board. Mr Ocakdan can therefore be a member of the Television Council twice in a row either by unanimous decision of the organisations entitled to delegate, by luck of the draw or a combination of both. This procedure is organised remotely from the state and takes place without the involvement of the Lower Saxony State Chancellery or other state agencies.”