Turkey’s state TV to launch English test broadcast

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

AA Photo

Turkey’s state-owned television channel TRT has announced that it will soon be starting a closed circuit test broadcast of its English news service, TRT World.

TRT Director General Şenol Göka said the technical infrastructure for TRT World was actually completed by Jan. 15.

“We saw that technically we were ready. The next phase is about the content. A team of professionals is intensely working on this. The English-language channel will start its closed circuit test broadcast soon. After intense work on content and the closed circuit test broadcast, the next phase will open with a test broadcast. Our broadcast plan, which was prepared diligently, will follow this road map,” Göka said.

TRT Deputy Director General İbrahim Eren said the new station would be based in Istanbul, “but would inform the world.” 

“There will be reporters from Asia, the Americas and Europe. Reporters either settled in those locations or sent from the center will present continuous, strong, new, different, original and reliable news and human stories to the viewers,” Eren said.

“We examined the structures of other international news channels, but we haven’t copied any of them. We set the goal of originality for TRT World, with our teams working with this principle. Our studios in Kuala Lumpur, Washington and London are being set up right now. With professional reporters and technical teams to join us from dozens of different countries, TRT World will become a reference all over the world,” he added.

Currently, TRT has 15 television stations, including in Arabic and Kurdish. TRT Avaz, meanwhile, mainly broadcasts to Turkic republics in former Soviet territory.