WASHINGTON D.C., June 08, 2015 --The Voice of America provided extensive coverage of the parliamentary elections in Turkey over the weekend as the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) won enough votes to give Kurds a voice in Parliament for the first time and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Democracy Party (AKP) lost a majority in Parliament.
VOA coverage was
enhanced by live news feeds from Mutlu Civiroglu (VOA Kurdish) and Alparslan
Esmer (VOA Turkish) and by reports filed by VOA's network of freelance reporters
on the ground in Turkey. In addition, VOA's 43 other language services carried
reports on the elections.
As the election
approached last week, VOA Turkish broadcaster Esmer interviewed HDP official
Hafize Ipek in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir. Ipek told VOA, "'the ruling
party's goal is to prevent HDP from getting over the 10 percent threshold and
keep the Kurds unrepresented in Turkish politics. Our goal is to assure polling
station and vote security to avoid fraud." The HDP needed to win at least 10
percent of the national vote to enter Parliament. By winning more than 13
percent on Sunday, the HDP denied President Erdogan's ruling AKP party a
majority.
VOA Turkish
posted a Special Election Page on its website featuring interviews with
political leaders and candidates, and its coverage has been available in Turkey
on Mynet.com, one of the country's leading news and entertainment Internet
portals.
VOA also
reported on voting by approximately 90,000 Turkish voters in the United States,
22 percent of whom cast ballots at the Turkish Embassy and at consulates in nine
U.S. cities.
VOA Kurdish
broadcaster Mutlu Civiroglu reported from Istanbul and then traveled to
southeastern Turkey, a predominantly Kurdish-populated region, to file reports
and video for VOA Kurdish and English programming. He filed video and photos
from the scene of the bomb blast at an HDP political rally in Diyarbakir, Turkey
two days before the election.
VOA Kurdish stringer
Salih Turan in Istanbul sent photos, videos, and interviewed voters. He also
filed reports for radio and provided content for VOA's Kurdish
websites.
On Sunday,
after the votes were counted and HDP's electoral breakthrough was known,
Khajijan Farqeen, a reporter for VOA's Kurdish Service, filed on the joyous
celebrations in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir.
(VOA)
Voice of Turkey - Summer shortwave schedule
Effective to: 24 October 2015
Arabic
0900-1000 11750va
1400-1500 9540va 17770va
Azerbaijan
0700-0800 11730as
1530-1600 9530as
1600-1630 9530as
Bulgarian
1100-1130 7210eu
Chinese
1100-1200 15240as
Dari/Pashto
1500-1600 11765as
1600-1630 11765as
English
0300-0400 6165as 9515va
1230-1300 15450va
1300-1330 15450va
1630-1700 15520as
1700-1730 15520as
1830-1900 9785eu
1900-1930 9785eu
2030-2100 7205va
2100-2130 7205va
2200-2300 9830va
rench
1730-1800 7360af
1800-1830 7360af
1930-2000 7360af 9635eu
2000-2030 7360af 9635eu
Georgian
1000-1100 9655as
German
1130-1200 13760eu
1200-1230 13760eu
1730-1800 11835eu
1800-1830 11835eu
Italian
1400-1430 9610eu
Kazakh
1330-1400 11880as
Persian
0830-0900 11795as
0900-1000 11795as
1500-1600 9765as
Russian
1300-1400 11965va
Spanish
0100-0200 9770va 9870va
1630-1700 11930va
1700-1730 11930va
Tatar
1000-1030 9855as
Turkish
0000-0100 7260as
0100-0200 7260as
0400-0500 6040as 11980va
0500-0600 6040as 11980va
0600-0700 11750as 11955va 13635va
0700-0800 11750as 11955va 13625va
0800-0900 11750as 11995va 13625va
0900-1000 11955as 13635va
1000-1100 11955as 13635va
1100-1200 1195as 13635va
1200-1300 13635va
1300-1400 9840va
1400-1500 9840va
1500-1600 9840va
1600-1700 5960va 9460eu
1700-1800 5960va 9460eu
1800-1900 5960va 9460eu
1900-2000 5960va 9460eu
2000-2100 5960va 9460eu
Turkmen
1200-1230 11825as
Urdu
1200-1300 13710as
Uyghur
0200-0300 9465as
1230-1300 11700as
1300-1330 11700as
Uzbek
1030-1100 13650as
Legend:
af (Africa)
as (Asia)
eu (Europe)
va (various target areas)
(Intl SW Broadcast Guide/Summer 2015)
Available at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X8BIF0K