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| Kurds of Turkey perturbed by delay of promised Kurdish broadcasting There has been a sharp decline in enthusiasm among Kurds for planned broadcasting of programs in Kurdish as the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) fell short of pledges to air shows in languages other than Turkish as of this month. Some unprecedented initiatives by the government to solve long-standing problems faced by minority groups in Turkey seem to have lost momentum over time, a drawback that damages the credibility and sincerity of the state in finding a solution to these problems, according to intellectuals. Among these is a delay in plans to allocate one of the TRT stations for broadcasts in Kurdish, Arabic and Farsi. Though the government previously pledged to launch broadcasts this month, there have been no concrete steps taken to start broadcasting programs in these minority languages. "There is currently a slowdown in democracy, human rights and freedoms in Turkey. Initiatives previously announced to help solve the Kurdish problem have played a part in this slowdown. The suspension of projects that make feel Kurds an essential element of Turkish society makes Kurds think that their needs are neglected," stated Ümit Fırat, a Kurdish journalist and writer. Turkey's plans to allow broadcasting in the Kurdish language were first made public by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last March as part of efforts to minimize disparities between Turkey's western regions and its impoverished eastern and southeastern regions. President Abdullah Gül approved a bill in late June this year that allowed the TRT to broadcast programs in languages other than Turkish, paving the way for broadcasts in Kurdish, Arabic and Farsi. It was previously announced that the broadcasts would start this month; however, the director general of the TRT, İbrahim Şahin, stated in recent remarks that there would be a delay in the schedule and that the new TV station would start broadcasting in minority languages in March of next year. "The government's Kurdish TV initiative has turned into another long-winded story. Government officials keep promising, but they haven't kept their word. They now point to technical reasons as the reason of the delay. They say they cannot find a Kurdish-speaking announcer. If there aren't any, how can Roj TV find many?" asked Altan Tan, another well-respected Kurdish intellectual and writer. Sinan İlhan, one of the coordinators of the planned Kurdish TV station, stated last week that it was hard to find Kurdish-speaking people to be employed at the station. "There are many people in Turkey who can speak Kurdish. But, what we are looking for is somebody with ability and experience in TV broadcasting. We've received many applications, but we are a little picky," he said. There are, however, many international Kurdish satellite television stations around the world which manage to capture the attention of Kurds. One of the most prominent of them is the Denmark-based Roj TV -- one of the main media outlets of the Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] -- that broadcasts programs in the various dialects of the Kurdish language, as well as Persian, Arabic, Turkish and English. "The TRT will apparently have great difficulty in achieving its plans for Kurdish TV because it will be difficult to compete against other international stations. If the TRT wishes to attract the interest of Kurdish viewers, then it needs to offer high-quality programs other than simple shows that would mean nothing for viewers," Fırat went on to say. Locals ask for attractive programs on planned Kurdish station Seeking to boost Turkey's bid to join the European Union, TRT launched 30-minute weekly broadcasts in Kurdish in 2004, breaking a taboo in a country where public use of the Kurdish language was banned around 15 years ago. The programs, however, were criticized for their poor quality and content. They were usually uninteresting, older documentaries about nature and history. It was difficult for them to compete with other Kurdish stations. "You need strong political will and determination to implement such initiatives. Otherwise, you will strengthen the hands of those who wish to hinder you. When statesmen fail to keep their promises, people lose their trust in the government and the state and give up hopes that their problems will be solved one day," stressed Tan. Fırat agreed and added that the delay in Kurdish broadcasts has strengthened Kurds' feeling that they are treated as second-class citizens and that almost no importance is attached to their needs and demands. "Kurds feel that they are discriminated against. When the government planned to allocate a TRT station for Kurdish broadcasting, many Kurds said the government wouldn't be able to succeed it. I am afraid this delay has proved them right," he remarked. Locals residing in eastern and southeastern provinces have asked for programs and shows that could arouse interest among Kurdish citizens. Salih Ahmet Can, a 70-year-old Kurd living in Diyarbakır, told the Aksiyon weekly that he expects to see educational shows and news programs on the planned Kurdish station. "I want to watch news programs in Kurdish. I don't want to see meaningless documentaries. I am not interested in such things. I want to see things related to my country on the new Kurdish station," he said. Raziye Almut, another Kurd, expressed great support for the station. "I want this station to broadcast programs in Kurdish. My mother can neither speak nor understand Turkish. She tries to follow Turkish programs with me. Her grea-*test*-('") wish is to watch these programs in her mother tongue," she added. 19 October 2008, Sunday BETÜL AKKAYA İSTANBUL |
| QUOTE ("Publisher Ragip Zarakolu") |
http://www.info-turk.be/361.htm#Censorship ... The General Staff’s website – one of the key objectives of which is to deny the 1915 Armenian genocide – includes Christian missionaries on its list of dangers. They see Greek and Armenian orthodox foundations run by Turkish citizens as a threat to national security. ... Though Vedat Kurşun, editor of Turkey’s only Kurdish language daily Welat, has recently been released, the editor-in-chief of the periodical Odak was not freed, even though he suffers from a terminal illness. ... |
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| the Greece of "invest in Turkey", the Greece of "lets support AKP", the Greece of "lets support Turkish EU bid", the Greece of "let's democratize Turkey" |
![greekturkish/stirthepot.gif](http://greekturkish.18.<a href="http://www.forumer.com">forumer</a>.com/html/emoticons/greekturkish/stirthepot.gif)
VENCEREMOS!! ![greekturkish/gaah_opt_64.gif](http://greekturkish.18.<a href="http://www.forumer.com">forumer</a>.com/html/emoticons/greekturkish/gaah_opt_64.gif)
. You should be ashamed.