Hurriyet Daily News , Turkey
Jan 17 2010
Local channels boost Armenian initiative
Sunday, January 17, 2010
MUKADDER YARDIMCIEL
KARS – DoÄ?an News Agency
Serhat TV, a local channel based in Turkey’s northeastern city of
Kars, starts a program exchange with an Armenian counterpart, Lori TV.
The border between the two countries is closed only at a symbolic
level, the Serhat TV team says after paying a visit to Armenia and
seeing the extent of Turkish business activity there
Kars’ Serhat TV and Lori TV from the Armenian city of Gyumri are
collaborating on an exchange of television programs. DHA photo
A local initiative in the northeastern city of Kars to develop
Turkish-Armenian relations is moving strongly ahead as national
efforts lag.
Two local television stations from both sides of the border between
Turkey and Armenia, Kars’ Serhat TV and Lori TV from the Armenian city
of Gyumri, are supporting the normalization process between the two
countries by collaborating on an exchange of television programs.
Serhat TV is the first and only local TV station in Kars. It is owned
by former mayor Naif AlibeyoÄ?lu.
The project aims to break down prejudices between the two nations,
said Serhat TV coordinator Alican AlibeyoÄ?lu, who added that a
substantial proportion of the people support the opening of the border
gates.
To help the two nations learn more about each other and to promote the
cities of Kars and Gyumri, a team of five people from Lori TV first
came to Kars in August. The team filmed footage and interviews with
people to promote Kars and broadcast its documentary program in
Gyumri. After this, Lori TV then invited a four-person team from
Serhat TV to visit Armenia in December.
Cross-border visits
Though the distance between Kars and Gyumri is just 70 kilometers, due
to the closed border gates, the Serhat TV team could only reach the
Armenian city after traveling some 500 kilometers across Georgia and
returning the same way.
During its three-day stay in Gyumri, the Serhat TV crew made footage
to promote the city and asked local Armenians about the relations
between the two countries.
`We had had some prejudices prior to our visit to Armenia. But we were
shocked at what we saw,’ said AlibeyoÄ?lu. `Some 150 Turkish trailer
trucks on average enter Armenia from Georgia each day. Turkish goods
have an 80 percent share at stores and markets. The two countries
organize reciprocal flights. The borders are just symbolically closed.
All are waiting for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem
between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the opening of the borders.’
Anchorman Ã-zgür TuÄ?rul said he was surprised to meet, during some
on-the-street interviews, some old Armenian women who knew Turkish
well.
`Culturally, the two nations resemble each other very much. This is a
fellowship project. Our goal is to develop friendship between
journalists of the two countries,’ he said. `Our Armenian colleagues
visited us, and then we went there. A mutual trust has been formed.
Particularly youth are more peaceful and request the opening of the
border.’
Noting that Turks and Armenians have been living together in this
region for centuries, he said: `There were some prejudices in my mind
while I was going to Armenia, but most of them have now been
overthrown. With the program we made in Kars, we overthrew prejudices.
They were quite friendly to us. Our cultures resemble each other a
lot. We aim to develop relations in this region.’
The footages and interviews in Gyumri were broadcast as a
three-episode documentary under the name `Yakındaki Uzaklar’ (Close,
Yet Far). Kars citizens were pleased with it, according to Serhat TV
representatives, and additional programs will be shot within the
framework of the cooperation project.