Turkey’s first private Arabic station starts to broadcast


Date posted: May 12, 2014

ANKARA

Turkey’s first private Arabic TV channel, Hira TV began to broadcast over the Internet this week and plans to broadcast via satellite in the coming months.

The TV station aims at building better ties between Turkey and the Arab world.

Hira TV, whose name refers to the cave where the Prophet Muhammad first received revelation from God, broadcast live an international symposium titled “Wealth of Islam: Islamic Opinion and Comparison” as its first program.

Coming together in İstanbul, hundreds of guests participated in the symposium from Islamic countries. The program was broadcast live on its website, www.hira.tv.

The editor-in-chief of Turkey’s Arabic language magazine Hira Magazine, Nevzat Savaş said many of the guests had previously suggested to him to set up a TV station that would broadcast in Arabic, and the announcement of the new channel coincided with the conference.

Savaş stated that the station aims at broadcasting on five continents. The slogan of the channel is “The language of truth” and intends to link Turkey and the Arab world, which have always been closely connected to each other through historical, economic and geographic bonds.

Hira TV will also feature Samanyolu TV, which has been broadcasting programs in Arabic for almost 20 years. Hira TV CEO Yusuf Acar said the new channel’s target audience is families, adding: “Through cultural and scientific TV programs, we will appeal to all Arab people, including both children and adults. In addition, we will broadcast lectures from Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish-Islamic scholar.”

The target audience is around 400 million in the Arab world, as the satellite broadcast preparations continue. Acar said they aim to begin their satellite broadcast as soon as possible.

Prior to setting up the TV channel, Hira Magazine has been published in Turkey since 2012.

Both projects perform a crucial duty by strengthening ties between Turks and Arabs.

Source: Todays Zaman , May 11, 2014

Tags: | | |


Related News

GYV slams government attempt to silence critics with recent measures

The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) expresses that the interim Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government is continuing to use terror cases in an attempt to silence critical press.

Suspicious Deaths And Suicides On The Rise In Turkey With 54 People In Last 8 Months

Against the background of massive crackdown on critics and opponents in Turkey and widespread torture practices in detentions and prisons, 54 people were reported to have lost their lives, most under suspicious circumstances and under lock-up in the last eight months.

What is lacking in democratization package is democracy itself

This time’s so-called democratization package to soon be submitted to Parliament is an overt effort to make judicial proceedings nearly impossible if the consent of a governor or one of their deputies has not been granted. A prosecutor who wants to start an operation will first go to the governor (read: the government) in order to get a license to use law enforcement bodies in any sort of operation. This move is not only against democratic norms and the principles of transparency and the rule of law, but is also a clear reflection of a defensive mechanism in light of mounting corruption and graft claims surrounding senior government officials.

Liberal Turkish Journalists Champion Freedom of Expression, to a Degree

It’s precisely opposition journalists who have been criticized by colleagues who until recently worked for the newspapers of U.S.-based Fethullah Gulen. These colleagues accuse the opposition journalists of betraying freedom of expression. One of them is Sevgi Akarcesme who was editor-in-chief of the Turkish English-language daily Today’s Zaman. There is a great deal of truth in Akarcesme’s claims. But who today would dare defend journalists identified with Gulen?

Gülen calls on followers to adapt to PM’s teaching center closures

“If they close your homes, you should open dorms. If they close your dorms, you will open new homes. If they close your schools, you will respond by opening a university. And when they close your university, you should open ten schools. You should never stop marching,” Gülen said in a video that was posted at Herkül.org, a website close to the movement.

Nigeria – Our students should not be victims of Turkey’s high-handedness and authoritarianism

We strongly condemn the arrest, detention and deportation of some Nigerian students from Turkey’s capital city, Istanbul, over the botched coup in the country. The harassment and intimidation of our students by the Turkish Government over a matter that does not concern them is undiplomatic and utterly reprehensible. The Turkish government should not visit the punishment for the alleged actions of its political enemies on innocent Nigerian students.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Media freedom in Turkey takes another blow

60 Minutes – CBS News, Fethullah Gulen advocates education

Who is escalating tensions?

Gülen worries fake news could associate new terror attacks, assassinations in Turkey with him

African firms signal increased trade at TUSKON meeting

TUSKON denies mass resignations after corruption probe

Slain prosecutor’s daughter: My father was not with Gülen movement

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News