ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdsat Broadcasting Corporation will no longer air Turkish dramas because of Turkey’s “oppression” of Kurds in northern Syria, the TV channel announced on Monday.
“Springing from nationalism and a sense of responsibility concerning the oppression and injustice which the Kurds of Rojava are facing, we have decided to stop airing Ezel series and all other Turkish series on our channel,” reads an official statement published on the media’s Facebook page.
The TV channel apologized to its viewers for this move.
Kurdsat TV is known for airing Korean dramas and occasionally series from other countries, including the Turkish drama Ezel.
Ankara alleges that the ruling Kurdish groups in Rojava, northern Syria, the political party PYD and the armed forces YPG and YPJ, are branches of the PKK, a named terror group. Turkey launched its Operation Olive Branch on the Syrian Kurdish canton of Afrin on January 20.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented the deaths of 165 civilians in Afrin. Local health authorities put the number much higher, at 212 as of Sunday.
Turkey's military has denied the civilian casualties, saying it is proceeding with “utmost care” to protect civilians and that its operation will restore security to the borders and “protect Syrians from terrorist cruelty and oppression.”
Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies are in control of about 28 percent of the Kurdish enclave, according to the Observatory.
Kurdsat’s announcement comes after a major Middle Eastern satellite network, the Dubai-based MBC Group, also stopped airing Turkish dramas.
"There is a decision to remove all Turkish drama off several TV outlets in the region," MBC spokesman Mazen Hayek told Associated Press on Monday.
MBC is majority-owned by Saudi Arabia, Associated Press reported, noting the move comes amid worsening relations between Riyadh and Ankara.
“Springing from nationalism and a sense of responsibility concerning the oppression and injustice which the Kurds of Rojava are facing, we have decided to stop airing Ezel series and all other Turkish series on our channel,” reads an official statement published on the media’s Facebook page.
The TV channel apologized to its viewers for this move.
Kurdsat TV is known for airing Korean dramas and occasionally series from other countries, including the Turkish drama Ezel.
Ankara alleges that the ruling Kurdish groups in Rojava, northern Syria, the political party PYD and the armed forces YPG and YPJ, are branches of the PKK, a named terror group. Turkey launched its Operation Olive Branch on the Syrian Kurdish canton of Afrin on January 20.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented the deaths of 165 civilians in Afrin. Local health authorities put the number much higher, at 212 as of Sunday.
Turkey's military has denied the civilian casualties, saying it is proceeding with “utmost care” to protect civilians and that its operation will restore security to the borders and “protect Syrians from terrorist cruelty and oppression.”
Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies are in control of about 28 percent of the Kurdish enclave, according to the Observatory.
Kurdsat’s announcement comes after a major Middle Eastern satellite network, the Dubai-based MBC Group, also stopped airing Turkish dramas.
"There is a decision to remove all Turkish drama off several TV outlets in the region," MBC spokesman Mazen Hayek told Associated Press on Monday.
MBC is majority-owned by Saudi Arabia, Associated Press reported, noting the move comes amid worsening relations between Riyadh and Ankara.
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