Zaman, Turkey
Oct 28 2006

French Radio Halts Broadcasting in Turkish
By Ali Ihsan Aydin
Saturday, October 28, 2006
zaman.com

Radio France International (RFI) has cut Turkish broadcasts, which
have been on the air for 35 years, on grounds of financial
difficulties.

The radio station, which broadcasts in 19 languages, cut only its
broadcasts in Turkish.

Ugur Hukum, coordinator of Turkish broadcasts at the RFI, called the
decision an example of France’s imprudence and added, `This move
confirms that France has never viewed Turkey and Turkish as a
strategic partner.’

However, Hukum said the decision to halt Turkish broadcasts had
nothing to do with the Armenian genocide bill, adding that it had
been planned long before the bill was passed.

Dutch and Swedish radios had also cut their Turkish broadcasts.

The radio management announced the end of Turkish broadcasts was a
part of financially-triggered reform program, but they decided to
continue broadcasting in Lagos, Bulgarian, Albanian, Vietnamese and
Serbian.

The broadcasts in Turkish will be replaced with a website to inform
the public on Turkey-EU relations.

Hukum said they had suggested to the radio management a project
called `Paris’s Europe Agenda.’

The RFI had broadcast Turkish programs once a week since 1971.

RFI Turkish broadcasts were set up to inform Turkish emigrants to
France. The radio broadcasts in Parisian neighborhood and is
available worldwide on the Internet.

The RFI Turkish broadcasts lost much of their audience when Turkish
TV channels started broadcasting in Europe.