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ROJ TV was invited to take part in hearing
on the cultural situation of the Kurds
21.1.2006
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ROJ TV was invited to
take part in hearing on the cultural situation of
the Kurds organised by Parliamentary Assembly of
Council of Europe – Committee On culture, science
and education.
The hearing was held in Paris on Wednesday 18
January and was closed to press.
Although some participants from Turkey were not
happy to hear the speech by Mezopotamia's director
Manoucher Zonoozi, who pointed out to the cases of
violation of human rights there.
The following is the text
of Mr. Manuchehr Zonoozi representing Kurdish 'ROJ
TV' in the hearing.
The Chairman, Mr. Jacques Legendre,
Lord Russel-Johnston, the Rapporteur,
The members of the committee,
Ladies and Gentleman,
Firstly I would like to thank you for inviting Roj
TV.
I would also like to thank you for organizing such a
hearing today.
My speech today will consist of two parts. The First
part is about Roj TV, the role of Roj TV in the
Kurdish culture and society and the second part will
consist of experiences of Kurdish media in general.
Before going on about telling you what Roj TV is all
about, the aims and objectives of it, perhaps I need
to tell you about the history of struggle of the
Kurdish existence.
Not long ago, it was just before two decades ago the
voice of the Kurds was not heard.
As a result of division of Kurds in four parts,
namely Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, Kurds were
denied of their identity and suppressed of any means
of rights, let alone the basic right of freedom of
speech. And that at the time there were armed
clashes of Kurds in the four countries mentioned
before.
The beginning of 1990's was also the beginning of a
new era in the history of Kurdish media in which the
first Kurdish paper was published in Turkey. Yet it
did not take long for the government to close down
the newspapers . 29 Kurdish journalists were
assassinated between 1991-1996. Thousands of court
cases were opened against the journalists, chief
editors, columnists etc. In October 1994 in
Istanbul, Özgür Ülke newspaper was bombed and
destroyed. Because the paper was publishing news
without censorship that no other newspaper would in
Turkey. So this was already an act against the
official ideology. After all the pressure against
freedom of expression on the Kurdish journalists
some had to take asylum in Europe.
Thanks to European democracy which gave those
journalists an opportunity to broadcast in Kurdish.
Here starts the history of Kurdish broadcasting
namely Med TV in 1995.
ROJ TV started broadcasting in March, 2004. The
license provider of Roj TV is Mediesekretariat of
Cultural Ministry of Denmark.
A General description of ROJ TV's programming
Roj TV is a Kurdish satellite and internet
broadcasting to promote the use of various varieties
of Kurdish language, namely Sorani, Kurmanci,
Hewrami, and Zazaki.
Roj TV tries to reach all the Kurds divided by four
countries as well as Kurds living in Diaspora.
Roj TV not only assesses Kurdish society to develop
democracy but also aims to bring democracy to Middle
East. Roj TV broadcasts human rights violations in
Turkey, Iran and Syria. Just recently we announced
the torture of a woman named Sewra Kamkar in the
prisons of Iran, also a member of a Kurdish human
Rights organization.
On 13 of July 2005 A well known Kurdish personality
Hussein Amed Hüseyin was arrested and tortured in
Kamişlo in Syria. And two weeks later his dead body
was given to his family. There was no news in
Syria's media about the case.
Shemzinan event is another example : culprits
associated with Turkish Intelligence after bombing a
Bookshop were caught up by the local people. Roj TV
was the first channel to capture picture of their
identity and broadcast.
By watching Roj TV, Kurds are also informed of their
rights and also the rights of others in the region.
For example, During bird flu epidemic when the
Ministry of Health traveled to The Kurdish Cities
the people protested the minister for handing out
brochures in Turkish (a language they don't speak,
it is also a fact that most of them are illiterates)
but not in Kurdish.
But Roj TV took the responsibility to deliver
information about the bird flu and ways to take
precautions.
Roj TV does not only broadcast in Kurdish but also
in Turkish, Arabic, Assyrian and Persian.
Roj TV promotes fraternity among the people in the
region.
Roj TV has an effective role in creating culture of
peace , by celebrating the religious events of the
Christens, Alewis, Ezdayis and others. We celebrate
Christmas every year by having a special Christmas
celebration program.
Because of our philosophy of broadcasting which is
purely based on freedom of speech, The Country that
provide our broadcasting license is under constant
pressure from Turkey and other countries in the
region.
Although Denmark, where ROJ TV is receiving its
license, has been under great pressure from Turkey
to shut down the channel, but Danish Prime Minister
Anders Fog Rasmussen very strongly protected the
freedom of expression, a basic principle of
democracy.
We thank Denmark for their support and that we are
very proud to be based in Denmark indeed.
Roj TV plays a harmonizing role in the region and
therefore helps to democratization of Middle East.
This morning children in Turkey started their school
by saying "How happy one is who says that he/she is
Turkish" but those children who watch ROJ TV sing
songs or listen to the stories in Kurdish.
Mr. Chairman, Lord Russel-Johnston, members of the
committee thank you very much for giving me this
opportunity to express my views .
http://rojtv.blogspot.com
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