The difficult journey of Turkish (Minority) media: Striking statements by Assoc. Prof. Ersoy Soydan

In the programme hosted by Kastamonu University Vice Dean Assoc. Prof. Ersoy Soydan, radios, which are the voice of Turkish media especially in the Balkans and Western Thrace, and the difficulties they face were discussed.

The programme reveals the struggle of Turkish media organisations under difficult conditions and provides important information on how the voice of the Turkic world can be heard more strongly.

This week in TV366's "From Ülkü'den Ülkeye" programme, the difficulties faced by Turkish media outlets outside Turkey were discussed. The guest of the programme, Kastamonu University Vice Dean Assoc. Prof. Ersoy Soydan talked about the struggle of Turkish media outside Türkiye and the problems of journalists.

The programme, which takes place every Wednesday at 20.00 on Kastamonu-based TV366 screens, continued to go deeper into the Turkish World and Turkish culture this week. This week's guest of the programme moderated by Ülkü Mehtap Zoroğlu was Kastamonu University Vice Dean Assoc. Prof. Ersoy Soydan.

In this week's programme, Turkish radios broadcasting outside Türkiye as the voice of the Turkish world were discussed. Ersoy Soydan talked in detail about the difficulties faced by the media, especially radio owners and journalists of Turks living in Europe and the Balkans.

Soydan emphasised the difficulty of establishing and operating media communication tools and stated that this segment, which has minority status, has to struggle with state pressure. Emphasising that especially the radio and newspaper owners of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority living in Greece are experiencing great difficulties under state pressure, Soydan drew attention to the imprisonment and fines imposed on the authorities of Çınar FM radio as an example.

Communication expert Soydan, who shared important information about radio broadcasts in the Balkans, continued his words on this subject as follows: Turkish radio broadcasts have been made in the Balkans for 77 years.  On 28 December 1944, a five-minute radio broadcast made by partisan Turks from the Turkish village of Upper Vranofça in Köprülü (Veles) in Macedonia was the first known radio broadcast made by Turks in the Balkans. Today, Turks living in Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Romania, Bulgaria, Romania and Gagauzia in Moldova make their voices heard both in proportion to the share allocated to them in the state radios of the countries in which they live and through private and community radios they have established. Turkish radio broadcasts, which are the voice of the Turkish people, have a great function together with other Turkish institutions such as schools, associations and political parties in terms of maintaining the existence of Turks in the Balkans and protecting their identity."

The highlights of Assoc. Prof. Soydan's speech in which he explained the problems faced by the Western Thrace Turkish Minority media and journalists:  

• According to the exchange agreement signed between Turkey and Greece on 30 January 1923, the Turkish population in Western Thrace and the Greek Orthodox population in Istanbul, Gökçeada and Bozcaada were excluded from the exchange and left in their places. With the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty, the Turkish community in Western Thrace was granted "minority" status.
• Western Thrace Turks gained the right to establish their own educational institutions and newspapers (media), among many other rights.
• While the state monopoly in radio broadcasting was broken in Europe in the 1970s, Turks in Western Thrace established private radios broadcasting in Turkish starting from 1992. Today, there are four Turkish radios in Western Thrace.
• In addition to economic difficulties, Turkish radios in Greece are also dealing with racist attacks against them. Their aerials are broken and their presenters are threatened.
• Denying the Turkish identity of the minority in Western Thrace, right-wing politicians of the state and fascist groups claim that they are descendants of Islamised descendants and apply various pressures.
• The main reason for the penalties imposed on Turkish publications is the non-recognition of the Turkish existence and identity in Western Thrace.
• Greece does not recognise the Turkish presence in Western Thrace and can say that there are no Turks living in Greece, since the term "Turk" is not mentioned in Article 45 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty.
• The antagonism against Turks and Turkish also leads to the use of strange expressions. Until a few years ago, Ert Komotini, the local radio of the Greek state radio broadcasting in Komotini, was also broadcasting
• Turkish news bulletins. During the broadcasts, instead of the Turkish news bulletin, funny announcements were made such as "You will listen to the news bulletin in Muslim language".