Turkish media’s representation of truth was tackled by an event organised by the Turkish Republican Party UK (CHP UK) in central London on 24 April. The panel was joined by distinguished media persons, Hakan Aygün and Firdevs Robinson, who have been one of the key people in shaping Turkish media and its convergence.
The event also stood for presenting Hakan Aygun’s book “Society’s Child” along with the opening speech from Suna Akartuna, president of CHP UK. Akartuna mentioned the corruptions happening in Turkish Media and stated that the reality and what’s actually been representing in the news don’t match. She also added “We are all the sovereignhty. We don’t need to look for another Ataturk to come around and save us – we are all Ataturks”.
The event, that took place in a panel genre, carried on going as an interactive style as many attenders from the audience asked questions on Turkish media and politics. Hakan Aygun, drew attention to the ongoing corruptions in the Turkish media by saying “The real agenda of Turkish media is not businessmen being arrested nor possible constitiution changes – it is illegality, terror and ideological corruption.”
The panel ended with the final questions from the audience.
Who is Hakan Aygun?
He started journalism in 1986 in Ankara at Cumhuriyet nwewspaper. He’d had work experience from political journalism to educastional journalism. He kleft Cumhuriyet in 1991, joining a liberal shaped magazine Aktuel in ANKARA. He has been one of the first private television channel journalists in Turkey in the 90s.
The had extensive experience in broadcasting and reporting at Star TV, ATV and Channel 6 n Turkey.
He then incepted one of the first online Turkish newspaper Haberturk which then turned into a proper newspaper tabloid, with Ufuk Guldemir.
Who is Firdevs Robinson?
28As a London-based journalist, Firdevs Robinson has been covering international affairs for three decades. For the first 25 years, she worked as a producer, reporter and finally as an editor at the BBC World Service, focusing on Turkey, the Middle East, Central Asia ,the Caucasus and Europe. After a year of television journalism, reporting on the British economy for the Turkish TV channel CNBC-e, and writing for websites including Open Democracy and The Foreign Policy Centre, she has now launched into a different kind of journalism. While travelling, writing and freelancing, this blog is her way of commenting and interacting on the subject that interests her most: her home country, Turkey.
Firdevs Robinson’s specific areas of interest are the domestic and foreign policies of Turkey and its place in the world. As an outspoken defender of freedom of speech and a proponent of high ethical standards in journalism, she also regularly writes about the media.
This blog takes its name from an American- English idiom “Talking Turkey”, meaning discussing something honestly, directly, and tackling difficult issues head-on.