Botan International, funded by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), launched in August 2020 and opened its premises in Diyarbakir on Saturday.
“Kurdish journalism education is forbidden in the Turkish education system, but organizing workshops and seminars is not prohibited. Botan International is the first Kurdish organization in Turkey that provides Kurdish media education. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is the first international NGO that has sponsored a Kurdish organization in order to provide Kurdish media education,” said Murat Bayram, founder and CEO of the NGO.
RSF said in a statement on Wednesday that it hails the opening of the office in Diyarbakir - traditional capital city of Kurds in Turkey.
“We are very pleased to support Kurdish press freedom and free speech by means of this project,” said Laetitia Chesseron, head of local partnerships and capacity-building at RSF.
Bayram was quoted in the RSF statement as saying, “This is a development that will be recorded in Kurdish media history in Turkey… It is an honour for us to establish the first Kurdish media education office with RSF, one that works for freedom of information. It is very meaningful to teach new media techniques to young journalists who will bring new perspectives to Kurdish media.”
In addition to RSF, the Botan International is sponsored by and partnered with several other institutions such as the European Union, Kurdish American Education Society, Bianet news outlet, and the Swedish government.
Botan International says it has so far trained 85 people: 57 women and 28 men. Of this, 62 were journalists. They opened their first office in Sirnak, but were restricted to online events because of the coronavirus pandemic. All of their students are Kurds.
RSF will fund the centre for 10 months - until February 2022.
The Kurdish language is banned in official settings in Turkey. There are only a few Kurdish media outlets as well as a state-funded broadcaster, TRT Kurdi.
RSF has ranked Turkey 153th out of 180 countries in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index, noting high level of government control of media and the risk of imprisonment of journalists.
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