Türkiye's public broadcaster TRT launches Balkans edition

Türkiye’s public broadcaster TRT has launched TRT Balkan, a new digital news platform that will cover political, social, cultural and economic issues for the Balkans.

The platform, which has become operational on Wednesday, will publish special content for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro.

"TRT Balkan will be fighting for justice in the international arena and it will be the voice of the voiceless," Türkiye's Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said at the launch event in Ankara.

"We don't consider peace and welfare in Balkans different from ours," Altun added.

TRT’s Director-General Mehmet Zahid Sobaci said, "Our understanding of broadcasting is human-centric, striving to be the voice of the people in disadvantageous countries". 

TRT Balkan targets over 30 million people from the region and the Balkan diaspora with a wide range of content in multiple languages, including Albanian, BHS (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian) and Macedonian.

Like TRT’s other international news platforms, TRT Balkan will also publish content on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

With its offices set in Skopje and Sarajevo, TRT Balkan will operate with the aim of providing objective and reliable news to its audience from around the Balkans.

'Making Türkiye’s voice heard'

TRT Balkan is another step towards making Türkiye’s voice heard around the world, TRT General Manager Prof Dr Mehmet Zahid Sobaci has earlier said.

The platform is part of TRT’s plans to expand globally.

The Ankara-based organisation already maintains five different international feeds: TRT World, TRT Arabi, TRT Russian, TRT Deutsch and TRT Francais.

Founded in 1964, the Turkish media organisation has been on the path to becoming a major international broadcaster since 2016, when it launched its English-language service, TRT World.

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