TRT chairman elected head of Asia-Pacific Broadcast Union

TRT Chairman and Director General Ibrahim Eren is the first Turk to become the president of ABU, the biggest broadcasting union in the world, with 271 members from 72 countries.

Eren was elected during ABU’s general assembly, which was held online this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The gathering was initially supposed to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The tenure of the unanimously chosen president will last till December 31, 2023.

During this time, there will be three vice presidents assisting Eren: Satoru Masagaki, vice president of Japanese state television NHK; CEO and President of Southern Korea’s KBS Yang Sung-Dong; and India's public broadcaster Prasar Bharati’s CEO Shahshi Shekhar Vempati.

Ibrahim Eren was nominated by Japanese state television NHK, one of the most active institutions within ABU. Eren’s nomination was then strongly supported by Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and many others.

Ibrahim Eren was elected president of ABU because of his success during his tenure as general manager of TRT. The broadcaster's activity has made waves overseas and is available in several languages. 

In a statement after being chosen as ABU president, Eren said, “It fills me with pride to be chosen as president to the biggest broadcasting union with such strong support. This success stems from our country’s power and TRT’s effect in the international arena. I thank all ABU members and my colleagues. May this bring us all good luck.”

The path to the presidency

TRT Chairman and Director General Ibrahim Eren was elected unanimously as ABU vice president during the 55th ABU general assembly on October 5, 2018 and was still serving in that role.

Eren had been serving as the de facto president of ABU since January 25, 2020, when the then ABU president and also Japanese national broadcaster NHK President Ryoichi Ueda left his position.

When he was serving as acting president, Ibrahim Eren had presided over all ABU meetings.

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union 

ABU is the biggest broadcasting union in the world, with 271 members coming from 72 countries and eight different regions.

ABU reaches about 3.5 billion viewers through its members, and has been working relentlessly since its inception in 1964 to “promote the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters as well as key industry players and facilitate regional and international media co-operation.”

TRT has been a member of ABU’s highest management body, the 17-member Administrative Council, for seven terms.