TRT's new Kurdish channel signs on with messages from Gul, Erdogan

TRT 6, the first Kurdish channel of the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), yesterday officially started full broadcasts with a ceremony held at TRT's Ari Studio in Ankara. The new channel signed on with inaugural messages from President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In his message, President Gul said that he hoped the new channel's broadcasts would strengthen the unity and solidarity of the Turkish nation, characterizing Kurdish as a cultural richness of the Turkish people. Gul said that he appreciated TRT's broadcasting in the various languages and dialects used in Turkey. Stating that everyone should protect Turkey's atmosphere of solidarity, unity and fellowship, he said that everyone living in Turkey, as owners and proud, equal citizens of the country, can express their own culture and differences peacefully. In his message, Erdogan called the new channel a landmark development. "This is a step that will strengthen our unity and integrity and deepen our democracy," he said. "All our citizens have equal rights and freedoms. Democracy is a wide circle in which all people have the right and opportunity to express themselves." He added, "People might have different ethnic origins, beliefs or lifestyles, but we have very strong common values uniting us. Citizenship in the Turkish Republic rises above all differences. There is no need to fear our differences. Seeing and living these differences as our richness will not drive us away from each other, but on the contrary, will bring us closer." Gul and Erdogan's messages were broadcast with Kurdish dubbing and Turkish subtitles. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, State Minister for the Economy Mehmet Simsek said in recent years Turkey has seen remarkable improvements in fundamental rights and freedoms and significant steps towards the formation of a more democratic society.