TATV showcases Turkey and Turks to American audience
rick murphy
TATV showcases Turkey and Turks to American audience
Monday, December 21, 2009
WASHINGTON - Anatolia News Agency
A group of Turks who have been living in the US for many years are
making programs promoting Turkey and Turkish people for Turkish-
American Television, or TATV. Their programs are broadcast by more
than 60 public televisions in Washington, D.C., and its vicinity and
draw great interest from Turks and Americans
The TATV team uses the studio and technical equipment of the Fairfax
Public Access channel in Washington.
A group of Turks who founded Turkish-American Television, or TATV, are
showcasing both the successes and difficulties of Turks living in
Washington, D.C. and promoting Turkey’s history, culture, cuisine and
art to Americans.
The programs, which are broadcast on nearly 60 public television
channels, have been running for the past four years.
The broadcast team uses the studio and technical equipment of the
Fairfax Public Access channel in Washington for a small monthly wage
and makes two programs in Turkish and English every month.
The English programs mostly feature Turkey’s culture, music and art,
while the Turkish programs carry local Turkish community
announcements, tell their success stories and seek to make life easier
for Turks living in the United States.
While Turks mainly follow the programs related to their lives in the
United States and festival ceremonies, Americans show interest in the
tourism and cooking programs, such as programs giving kebab recipes.
For those who miss original airings, the team also uploads their
programs to their Web site www.turkishamericanhour.org.
Aimed at removing prejudices against Turks
The broadcast team consists of Turks with various occupational
backgrounds, from advertisement to home decoration. They also hope
Turks living in other parts of the country will begin to make similar
programs.
Hürriyet Ok, a computer engineer at an international company and one
of the founders of TATV, said they came up with the idea to establish
the channel after trying to decide how to make a wider announcement
for Turkish music choir concerts in Washington.
Ok said they attended courses and started working for the channel.
“Prejudices against Turkey and Turks were also influential for us in
starting the programs. There is a stereotypical perception about
Turkey and Turks. We show very interesting scenes from Turkey and
Turks in our English programs. Since the Turkish programs feature
Turks living here and their life stories, they enable them to get to
know each other,” she said.
“We began broadcasting in 2005 and have made more than 50 English
programs and nearly 30 Turkish programs in those four years. These
programs are broadcast on nearly 60 TV stations in many regions. We
also give our programs to the public TV channels of six or seven
municipalities in Washington,” said Ok.
Praise even in Australia
Ok said they have received positive reactions to their programs. “We
have received praise and good wishes through the Internet – even from
Australia.”
She said some Turks had attempted similar broadcasting in the past.
“One of them continued for a few years and the other continued for six
months. There was a group in New York making them commercially but I
think they stopped it. As far as we know, we are the first ones to
have been working this long voluntarily,” Ok said.
A group of eight or 10 people formed the team’s core, yet nearly 20
volunteers also occasionally worked with them. “We get to spend a nice
time with friends. This work brings us together. That is why we forget
difficulties as we create good programs,” she said.
Ok said they were pleased with their work despite the odd technical
issue. “We hope that we can encourage other Turkish groups to make
similar things.”
Americans surprised
TATV production adviser and architect Erju Ackman, who has been living
in the U.S. for 30 years, has been working for the channel since its
foundation. Ackman said they began the programs because they felt
Turks were occasionally misunderstood in the U.S. “When we leave,
others will continue and there will be an archive, a document on the
life of Turks in the country. This is why we are happy.”
He said the programs were well appreciated by Americans because they
were not simply geared for an ethnic audience. At first, Ackman said,
Americans were surprised by the programs because other foreign groups
in the country generally made programs appealing only to their own
culture, language and ethnic groups.
İbrahim Türk, an independent filmmaker and responsible for TATV’s
Turkish programs, has been working for the team for three years. He
said the Turkish-language programs focused on Turks living in the U.S.
“There was no resource 50 years ago if someone wanted to make a
program on the life of Turks in the U.S.,” he said. “Actually, we have
made an archive of the life of Turks here in a sense. How do they
live? What are their problems? What are their thoughts regarding their
children’s future? We ask these questions,” he said.
“Its importance might not be understood right now but our cultural
broadcasting will be an important archive 20 years later,” Türk said.
Sculptor Gökşin Carey, who presents English programs, said even
children knew them on the street. “Our most-watched program was the
one that gave recipes for Turkish kebab. The interest was
extraordinary,” she said.