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Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 15 2012
On the air in 35 languages, Voice of Turkey set to reach Mongolia soon
0
15 April 2012 / AYDIN ALBAYRAK , ANKARA
The Voice of Turkey (Türkiye'nin Sesi Radyosu in Turkish), Turkey's
state-owned radio broadcasting service in foreign languages, will soon
add Mongolian to its portfolio.
The Voice of Turkey is the world's fourth biggest radio station in
terms of the number of foreign languages in which it broadcasts. It
airs content in Turkish as well as in 34 other languages with plans to
start a Mongolian service soon.
With such a large coverage, Turkey's official radio station is placed
on the list above the BBC, which broadcasts in 33 languages, and comes
after the US, China and Russia. Now in its 75th year, the Voice of
Turkey is considering expanding its coverage to Mongolia.
"We have received requests from Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Gagauz
Turks and Bashkortostan [a republic in Russia] to start broadcasting
in their languages," Süleyman Köksoy, director of the Turkish Radio
and Television Corporation (TRT) Foreign Service, told Sunday's Zaman
in an exclusive interview.
If the plan gets the go-ahead from the governing board, Mongolian will
be the 36th language broadcast by the Voice of Turkey. The Voice of
Turkey utilizes new technology such as web-broadcasting and a
satellite feed as well as the traditional shortwave transmission.
The latest additions among the languages broadcast are Armenian (over
the web since 2009) and Afghan languages such as Dari Persian, Pashto
and Afghan Uzbek.
"The broadcast in Armenian has met with considerable interest in
Armenia; we generally get positive messages," Köksoy said. Stories of
the lives of Armenian artists who lived in Anatolia and Ottoman
bureaucrats of Armenian origin are being broadcast during the one-hour
transmission.
This relatively new addition has led the Armenians living in İstanbul
today to request radio broadcasts in Armenian from TRT inside Turkey.
Noting that broadcasting in Armenian is a step towards friendship,
Köksoy commented, "It is proof we don't have any negative feelings
towards Armenians."
With the active foreign policy initiatives the government has
undertaken in recent years, the messages the Voice of Turkey gets have
also increased significantly. The radio station has been receiving
enthusiastic messages especially from Arab countries in recent years.
It seems there are people in Egypt and Syria, for example, who would
like to see Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as their prime minister. "'Why don't
you help us? We ask our prime minister to do such-and-such...' they
write in their letters," he said. The radio receives a great deal of
attention in Turkey's neighborhood, that is, the area formerly ruled
by the Ottoman Empire. "Those countries take Turkey as a model, and
have high expectations from Turkey. Turkey is forced by the
circumstances into this foreign policy initiative and is broadcasting
accordingly," Köksoy noted.
But the country where the broadcast gets the warmest welcome is
Pakistan, where there is even a club bringing together those who
listen to the Voice of Turkey. Another thing of note is the attention
the station gets in Latin America, where the Voice of Turkey started
to broadcast in Spanish in 2008. "We receive friendly messages from
countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Cuba and Argentina," said
Köksoy.
The radio station also helps those who want to learn Turkish. In order
to meet requests from listeners around the world trying to learn
Turkish, a 10-minute period is allocated to Turkish during broadcasts.
The Turkish sessions are stored as podcasts on the web at
"www.trt-world.com" for later reference. A Turkish learning pack is
also available on the website in most of the languages the Voice of
Turkey broadcasts in.
Currently, the radio station is preparing a Turkish learning pack on
video, which could be made use of both on television and on the web.
As part of efforts to keep abreast of the times, the news programs and
interviews from the Voice of Turkey will be available as downloadable
video podcasts on the Internet soon.
Turkey started its cross-border radio broadcasting in 1938 on
shortwave. But broadcasting on the web, which started in 2008, is the
area getting most of the attention nowadays, although there are still
places such as Russia, China and Latin America among others where the
transmission is still on shortwave.
The Voice of Turkey was very popular from the '60s to the end of the
'80s among Turkish workers in Europe. The radio station not only
served as a platform to give a voice to their problems, but also as a
means of communication. Turkish workers who couldn't get any news from
their families in Turkey used to communicate with Turkey through the
radio. And arabesque music, which was not allowed in TRT programs in
those days, being considered of low taste, was never subject to a ban
on the Voice of Turkey as it was the kind of music Turkish workers in
Europe wanted to listen to.
The Voice of Turkey broadcasts in Turkish 24 hours a day, but the
daily duration of broadcast in foreign languages varies from half an
hour to an hour and a half, Persian being the only foreign language to
enjoy the maximum time. The content of the broadcast is composed
mainly of news items and summaries from the press. And should there be
any time remaining, programs on Turkey, Turkish culture and music are
broadcast. The Voice of Turkey looks like the United Nations in
miniature form, with some of its 300 employees being Turkish citizens
of foreign origin.
First cross-border broadcast
Turkey's first radio broadcast outside of its borders was a speech on
Hatay (a province on the Syrian border) issued by the then-Prime
Minister İsmet İnönü, which after being translated, was broadcast in
Arabic in 1937. But the regular external service of the Turkish radio
began in English, German and French in October 1938. Currently, the
Voice of Turkey broadcasts live on the web in 34 languages in addition
to Turkish. You can visit their website at www.trt-world.com
April 15 2012
On the air in 35 languages, Voice of Turkey set to reach Mongolia soon
0
15 April 2012 / AYDIN ALBAYRAK , ANKARA
The Voice of Turkey (Türkiye'nin Sesi Radyosu in Turkish), Turkey's
state-owned radio broadcasting service in foreign languages, will soon
add Mongolian to its portfolio.
The Voice of Turkey is the world's fourth biggest radio station in
terms of the number of foreign languages in which it broadcasts. It
airs content in Turkish as well as in 34 other languages with plans to
start a Mongolian service soon.
With such a large coverage, Turkey's official radio station is placed
on the list above the BBC, which broadcasts in 33 languages, and comes
after the US, China and Russia. Now in its 75th year, the Voice of
Turkey is considering expanding its coverage to Mongolia.
"We have received requests from Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Gagauz
Turks and Bashkortostan [a republic in Russia] to start broadcasting
in their languages," Süleyman Köksoy, director of the Turkish Radio
and Television Corporation (TRT) Foreign Service, told Sunday's Zaman
in an exclusive interview.
If the plan gets the go-ahead from the governing board, Mongolian will
be the 36th language broadcast by the Voice of Turkey. The Voice of
Turkey utilizes new technology such as web-broadcasting and a
satellite feed as well as the traditional shortwave transmission.
The latest additions among the languages broadcast are Armenian (over
the web since 2009) and Afghan languages such as Dari Persian, Pashto
and Afghan Uzbek.
"The broadcast in Armenian has met with considerable interest in
Armenia; we generally get positive messages," Köksoy said. Stories of
the lives of Armenian artists who lived in Anatolia and Ottoman
bureaucrats of Armenian origin are being broadcast during the one-hour
transmission.
This relatively new addition has led the Armenians living in İstanbul
today to request radio broadcasts in Armenian from TRT inside Turkey.
Noting that broadcasting in Armenian is a step towards friendship,
Köksoy commented, "It is proof we don't have any negative feelings
towards Armenians."
With the active foreign policy initiatives the government has
undertaken in recent years, the messages the Voice of Turkey gets have
also increased significantly. The radio station has been receiving
enthusiastic messages especially from Arab countries in recent years.
It seems there are people in Egypt and Syria, for example, who would
like to see Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as their prime minister. "'Why don't
you help us? We ask our prime minister to do such-and-such...' they
write in their letters," he said. The radio receives a great deal of
attention in Turkey's neighborhood, that is, the area formerly ruled
by the Ottoman Empire. "Those countries take Turkey as a model, and
have high expectations from Turkey. Turkey is forced by the
circumstances into this foreign policy initiative and is broadcasting
accordingly," Köksoy noted.
But the country where the broadcast gets the warmest welcome is
Pakistan, where there is even a club bringing together those who
listen to the Voice of Turkey. Another thing of note is the attention
the station gets in Latin America, where the Voice of Turkey started
to broadcast in Spanish in 2008. "We receive friendly messages from
countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Cuba and Argentina," said
Köksoy.
The radio station also helps those who want to learn Turkish. In order
to meet requests from listeners around the world trying to learn
Turkish, a 10-minute period is allocated to Turkish during broadcasts.
The Turkish sessions are stored as podcasts on the web at
"www.trt-world.com" for later reference. A Turkish learning pack is
also available on the website in most of the languages the Voice of
Turkey broadcasts in.
Currently, the radio station is preparing a Turkish learning pack on
video, which could be made use of both on television and on the web.
As part of efforts to keep abreast of the times, the news programs and
interviews from the Voice of Turkey will be available as downloadable
video podcasts on the Internet soon.
Turkey started its cross-border radio broadcasting in 1938 on
shortwave. But broadcasting on the web, which started in 2008, is the
area getting most of the attention nowadays, although there are still
places such as Russia, China and Latin America among others where the
transmission is still on shortwave.
The Voice of Turkey was very popular from the '60s to the end of the
'80s among Turkish workers in Europe. The radio station not only
served as a platform to give a voice to their problems, but also as a
means of communication. Turkish workers who couldn't get any news from
their families in Turkey used to communicate with Turkey through the
radio. And arabesque music, which was not allowed in TRT programs in
those days, being considered of low taste, was never subject to a ban
on the Voice of Turkey as it was the kind of music Turkish workers in
Europe wanted to listen to.
The Voice of Turkey broadcasts in Turkish 24 hours a day, but the
daily duration of broadcast in foreign languages varies from half an
hour to an hour and a half, Persian being the only foreign language to
enjoy the maximum time. The content of the broadcast is composed
mainly of news items and summaries from the press. And should there be
any time remaining, programs on Turkey, Turkish culture and music are
broadcast. The Voice of Turkey looks like the United Nations in
miniature form, with some of its 300 employees being Turkish citizens
of foreign origin.
First cross-border broadcast
Turkey's first radio broadcast outside of its borders was a speech on
Hatay (a province on the Syrian border) issued by the then-Prime
Minister İsmet İnönü, which after being translated, was broadcast in
Arabic in 1937. But the regular external service of the Turkish radio
began in English, German and French in October 1938. Currently, the
Voice of Turkey broadcasts live on the web in 34 languages in addition
to Turkish. You can visit their website at www.trt-world.com