This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

031543Z Mar 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001103 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO TU
SUBJECT:  RETHINKING ELIMINATION OF THE VOA TURKISH SERVICE 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The proposed elimination of the VOA Turkish 
Service in FY-07 has unleashed an outpouring of protest in 
this country, particularly from those who are long-time 
friends of the United States.  Over the last two years, 
listenership and usage of VOA radio, television, and 
Internet services in Turkey have shot up.  In view of the 
increased emphasis the BBG is placing on broadcasting in the 
Muslim world and the prevalence of distortion and anti-U.S. 
bias in Turkey's media, it would be a serious mistake to cut 
the VOA Turkish Service.  End Summary 
 
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Protests Resound From All Corners 
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¶2.  Nazmi Bilgin, president of the Ankara Journalists' 
Association and the powerful Federation of Journalists' 
Associations of Turkey, contacted the Ambassador to express 
the "disappointment felt by hundreds of journalists 
throughout Turkey" over the proposed elimination of the VOA 
Turkish Service.  In addition to protesting the impending 
loss of the VOA's Turkish radio broadcasts, he noted his 
first hand knowledge of large numbers of journalists at 
newspapers and magazines in cities and towns around the 
country who depend on the VOA Turkish website to keep up to 
date on U.S. policies and perspectives.  He said: "The 
approval of this ill-advised proposal by the Broadcasting 
Board of Governors will inevitably have a very negative 
effect on your country's public diplomacy in Turkey." 
 
¶3.  The honorary president of the Turkish-American Business 
Council wrote that he has listened to VOA Radio since he was 
a child and stressed that generations of citizens in 
southern Turkey, of which he is a native, have depended on 
the VOA Turkish Service as their "most important" source of 
news.  Mehmet Dulger, chairman of the Turkish parliament's 
international relations committee, told the Ambassador he 
strongly objects to the proposed elimination of the VOA 
Turkish Service and is concerned that the move sends the 
worst possible signal just as U.S.-Turkish relations begin 
to recover from deep rifts caused by the Iraq War.  He 
described himself as a daily listener of VOA for decades, 
and he believed many other members of parliament listen to 
the VOA regularly as well. 
 
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A Solid Record of Growth 
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¶4.  Statistics show that the VOA's Turkish Service has shown 
a significant increase in listenership in Turkey's extremely 
competitive media environment.  According to the most recent 
audience survey conducted by Intermedia in Turkey, VOA 
Turkish radio listenership grew to 1.8 percent in May 2005, 
a 300 percent increase over 2003.  VOA's Turkish Service is 
simulcast five hours per week nationwide on Turkey's highly 
respected NTV Radio and is broadcast seven hours per week on 
a large network of AM and FM affiliates throughout the 
country. 
 
¶5.  Last year, TGRT, one of Turkey's largest privately owned 
TV networks, started carrying a 30-minute news and magazine 
program produced by the VOA Turkish Service.  According to 
AGB Nielsen, the program reached 2.5 million adults per week 
as soon as it was launched.  The VOA Turkish website is also 
taking off fast, with the number of visitors growing 68 
percent from 2003 to 2004 and 175 percent in 2005. 
 
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Why Now, Why Turkey? 
-------------------- 
 
¶6.  The FY-07 BBG budget identifies the expansion of radio 
and television broadcasting in the Muslim world as one of 
its highest priorities.  Given this, eliminating -- rather 
than increasing -- the VOA Turkish Service is counter- 
productive.  Ninety-nine percent of Turkey's 74 million 
population is Muslim.  Turkey is a regional power and 
important U.S. ally; a proponent of reform in neighboring 
Iraq, Iran, and Syria; and a partner in the Broader Middle 
East and North Africa Initiative.  In light of its strategic 
importance as a Muslim-majority secular democracy, Turkey 
has attracted major new USG public diplomacy resources, 
including a tripling of its Fulbright budget, making it the 
largest recipient of USG Fulbright funding in the world in 
FY-06.  By any measure, such a valuable public diplomacy 
asset as Turkish language broadcasting should be expanded, 
not zeroed out. 
 
¶7.  Turks from all walks of life who have protested the 
proposed elimination of the VOA Turkish Service have told us 
that it is VOA's reliability and its objective, factual 
reporting of international news that they most value.  One 
of the principal reasons cited by the BBG for the 
elimination of the Turkish service is the country's highly 
competitive media market, with hundreds of cable TV 
channels, local radio stations, and print publications.  The 
most salient feature of Turkey's burgeoning media, however, 
is its irresponsible, manipulative brand of journalism. 
Misinformation and disinformation are common in the Turkish 
media, and there frequently appear strongly anti-American 
reports that can only be effectively countered by the truth 
-- which as been the VOA's stock in trade for decades.  The 
most recent Pew Global Attitudes Report found that less than 
one-quarter of Turks hold a favorable view of the U.S. 
Given Turkey's cacophonous media and the obvious distortions 
it publishes and broadcasts, presenting clear and factual 
news about the U.S. and the world remains a good idea.  This 
is what the VOA does best.  The Mission urges that the 
proposed elimination of the VOA Turkish Service be 
reconsidered. 
WILSON