mark61
23-03-06, 17:41
ANKARA - TDN with wire services
Two private regional television channels and a radio station will start brief Kurdish-language broadcasts for the first time in Turkey today.
Executives from Gün TV, Söz TV and Medya FM, all based in the Southeast, signed a deal with Turkey's broadcasting watchdog, the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK), last Friday to begin airing their programs.
"After many bureaucratic setbacks, we have finally won the right to broadcast in Kurdish," said Cemal Doğan, owner of Gün TV. "It is a small step; we still face many restrictions. But it is very important for Turkey and we are happy," he said.
The existing laws limit the broadcasts to 45 minutes a day and four hours per week for television channels and one hour a day and five hours per week for radio stations, he explained.
They also require the broadcasters to run subtitles in Turkish, which some criticize as causing too many technical difficulties.
Under pressure to comply with European Union democracy norms, Turkey began Kurdish-language broadcasts on state television in 2004, a taboo-breaking move in a country where even speaking Kurdish was banned less than 15 years ago.
Shows already prepared:
Gün TV's first Kurdish-language program will be a documentary about the cultural and historic heritage of Diyarbakır, the main city of the Southeast, where the station is based, Doğan said.
Söz TV, also based in Diyarbakır, plans to air a program on Kurdish traditions, while Medya FM, broadcasting from Şanlıurfa, will start with a news bulletin and music, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Medya FM radio representatives, for their part, promised to abide by a rule limiting broadcasts to an hour per day and five hours per week, Doğan said. Radio programs would be followed by a Turkish translation.
Turkey changed its laws in 2002 to allow limited broadcasts in Kurdish and other minority languages, and state television has been airing programs in two Kurdish dialects for a half-hour each week.
Regional stations wanting to broadcast in Kurdish had until now met with bureaucratic hurdles.
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=38887
Duurt ff 80 jaar en paar honderdduizend doden, maar dan heb je ook wat.
Two private regional television channels and a radio station will start brief Kurdish-language broadcasts for the first time in Turkey today.
Executives from Gün TV, Söz TV and Medya FM, all based in the Southeast, signed a deal with Turkey's broadcasting watchdog, the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK), last Friday to begin airing their programs.
"After many bureaucratic setbacks, we have finally won the right to broadcast in Kurdish," said Cemal Doğan, owner of Gün TV. "It is a small step; we still face many restrictions. But it is very important for Turkey and we are happy," he said.
The existing laws limit the broadcasts to 45 minutes a day and four hours per week for television channels and one hour a day and five hours per week for radio stations, he explained.
They also require the broadcasters to run subtitles in Turkish, which some criticize as causing too many technical difficulties.
Under pressure to comply with European Union democracy norms, Turkey began Kurdish-language broadcasts on state television in 2004, a taboo-breaking move in a country where even speaking Kurdish was banned less than 15 years ago.
Shows already prepared:
Gün TV's first Kurdish-language program will be a documentary about the cultural and historic heritage of Diyarbakır, the main city of the Southeast, where the station is based, Doğan said.
Söz TV, also based in Diyarbakır, plans to air a program on Kurdish traditions, while Medya FM, broadcasting from Şanlıurfa, will start with a news bulletin and music, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Medya FM radio representatives, for their part, promised to abide by a rule limiting broadcasts to an hour per day and five hours per week, Doğan said. Radio programs would be followed by a Turkish translation.
Turkey changed its laws in 2002 to allow limited broadcasts in Kurdish and other minority languages, and state television has been airing programs in two Kurdish dialects for a half-hour each week.
Regional stations wanting to broadcast in Kurdish had until now met with bureaucratic hurdles.
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=38887
Duurt ff 80 jaar en paar honderdduizend doden, maar dan heb je ook wat.