VOA Kurdish launches new TV program
Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday, January 20th, the Voice of America’s Kurdish Service launched Kurdvizyon (Kurd Vision), a new 30-minute television news program, via its Kurdish affiliate, Ozgur Gun TV, in Dayirbakir, 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).