On Wednesday, January 20th, the Voice of America’s Kurdish
Service launchedKurdvizyon (Kurd
Vision), a new 30-minute television news program, via its Kurdish affiliate,
Ozgur Gun TV, in Diyarbakir, Turkey.
Kurdvizyon provides the latest news on
ISIS, Iraq and Turkey, and covers critical issues across the region and the
United States. The program presents objective perspectives on international
affairs and news about the United States, such as the 2016 U.S. presidential
election as well as Turkish and Kurdish issues. Veteran journalists Mutlu
Civiroglu and Ruken Isik host the broadcast in the Kurmanji dialect.
“Through Ozgur Gun TV, we will be able to
better reach Kurdish audiences, which, according to estimates, is more than 20
million people in Turkey,” says Kurdish Service Chief Fakhria Jawhary. Kurdvizyon will further VOA’s mission
and expand the Kurdish Service’s audience in the Dayirbakir region.
VOA Kurdish began broadcasting on April 24, 1992, and now
reaches audiences on radio, television and the Internet. Programs are broadcast
on shortwave, AM, and FM affiliates in several cities in Iraq and to more than
30 million Kurdish listeners/viewers in Eurasia, the Middle East and Europe –
and via the web in North America. VOA Kurdish reports and programs offer
extensive regional and international news coverage, interviews with experts, and
panel discussions and call-in forums that connect audiences with guests on a
wide range of topics as well as sports and press reviews of U.S. and
international media.
Kurdvizyon airs on Wednesdays at 5:00
p.m. local time (15:00 UTC).
