Month: March 2023

Türkiye’s public broadcaster TRT has launched a new digital news platform, TRT Afrika, to highlight stories of and from the continent to a global audience in four languages: Swahili, English, Hausa and French.

The channel went live on Friday during the second day of the ‘First Broadcasting Summit’ organised by TRT and The African Union of Broadcasting in Istanbul. The three-day summit began on March 30.

In line with TRT's objectives of impartial and inclusive journalism, TRT Afrika will provide its audience with an alternative narrative about Africa and feature global stories of significance to the continent with rich, timely and balanced information.

It also will give voice to stories from Africa and Africans in the diaspora, putting the unique blend of their core values at the heart of the world’s events.

With staff members from 15 countries in the continent, TRT Afrika's digital aim is to become a trusted news source in the continent, featuring global stories significant to African audiences and producing high-quality content for globally-connected youth on social media.

It aims to provide unique digital content, exclusive stories, investigations and documentaries of local African issues to African and global audiences and meet the information needs of the African diaspora worldwide.

TRT Afrika will be active in dozens of African countries from Gambia to Morocco, Nigeria to Cameroon. In this way, it also extends Türkiye’s longstanding commitment to Africa, providing a platform for African voices to be heard and celebrated worldwide.

TRT Afrika is the latest member of the TRT family that include TRT World, TRT Arabic, TRT Russian, TRT Deutsch, TRT Français and TRT Balkan – all individually and collectively bringing diverse voices and perspectives to global audiences.

TRT Afrika summit

Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, TRT General Manager Mehmet Zahid Sobaci, and African Broadcasting Union senior manager Gregoire Ndjaka will give opening speeches for TRT Afrika on Friday.

On the first day of the summit on Thursday, representatives of the African Broadcasting Union came together under the theme "Towards a Sustainable Future: Reshaping the Public Broadcasting Service".

At least 23 journalists from 16 African countries were also trained on topics such as "Change of the media during the pandemic process", "Contribution of technology to the change of journalism", and "Tools to be used against the Western ethnocentric approach".

Later on Friday, the summit will feature talks on topics such as: "Africa-Türkiye Relations in the Mirror of Public Service Media: Shared Vision and Future Challenges", "How Can African and Turkish Public Service Media Stay Sustainable in the Digital Age?" and "The Changing Face of Global News Feeds: Common for a Fairer World".

It will continue with panels on "Telling African Stories with Vision".

Source: TRTworld.com

King Charles stood shoulder to shoulder with Germany's president as he remembered those who died in Allied bombings in Hamburg in World War Two.

On the third day of his state visit, the King laid a wreath at the ruins of St Nikolai church as a symbol of reconciliation.

The church was preserved as a memorial to the heavy air raids carried out by US and British air forces 80 years ago.

On Thursday, the King also made a speech about healing wartime divisions.

During the service on Friday, a choir sang and there were readings in the remains of the 19th Century church.

That included a reference to "remembering those who perished in the Allied bombing of Hamburg in 1943".

A display at the site recalls that 34,000 people died in a series of air raids in the intense bombing and firestorms that followed in the city in July 1943.

There was also a description of prisoners from a Nazi concentration camp who were forced to carry out the salvage and clearing operation after the raids.

King's historic speech to German parliament

King praises Ukraine support on state visit

Second time lucky for King's first state visit

King Charles laid a black and red wreath with the inscription "In everlasting remembrance" and the Queen Consort Camilla laid a white rose on the steps beside it.

They were accompanied by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on a state visit that has sought to acknowledge the past but commit to a stronger future partnership.

The roofless church is now only a skeleton of its former self, but it had been designed by the English architect, George Gilbert Scott.

The same architect had designed the Albert Memorial in London, built in honour of the King's German ancestor Prince Albert.

But the high Gothic steeple of the church had been used as a navigation aid for bomber pilots and much of the church was destroyed.

Readings at St Nikolai spoke of setting grievances aside and avoiding the "hatred that divides nations from nations".

As with other parts of the state visit, there was tight security, with a police helicopter flying overhead as the choir sang.

The royal couple had travelled by train from Berlin to Hamburg, Germany's second-largest city - and on their arrival visited a memorial to the Kindertransport, in which thousands of Jewish children were rescued from the Nazis and brought as refugees to Britain.

There was also a visit to Hamburg's city hall and an event at which the King heard about efforts to develop green technologies.

This was the final day of a three-day state visit to Germany, the first of the reign of King Charles.

In speeches and events he delivered a message of needing to strengthen relations between Britain and Germany, against shared challenges such as the war in Ukraine and tackling climate change.

Source: BBC

It's not just the Beatles who can have a good start in Hamburg.

After an inauspicious beginning, when the planned initial trip to France went up in flames, this has proved to be a very successful first overseas state visit for King Charles.

There were no disasters or dramas and Germany gave the King a warm and respectful welcome. He seemed to be relaxed and enjoyed the opportunity to make his own mark as head of state. It was a polished opening performance.

The centrepiece of the trip was his historic speech to the German parliament, the first British monarch to address the Bundestag. It must count as one of the most important speeches of his reign so far.

The event was in Berlin's Reichstag building, a place with history literally on the walls, with Russian graffiti preserved from when it was occupied by Soviet troops at the end of the Second World War.

There was a palpable sense of expectation among the German parliamentarians ahead of the speech, taking selfies as though teenagers waiting for some kind of celebrity to appear.

It was an important moment for the King too, carrying out serious work on behalf of the government, repairing some of the relations with European neighbours that had been frayed by Brexit.

And it seemed to go down very well, with a standing ovation and some affectionate laughter at the jokey parts of the speech, about the Lionesses' football success and comedies like Monty Python.

King at memorial for Hamburg bombing raids

Historic speech to German parliament

Second time lucky for King's first visit?

It was a crowd pleaser to deliver much of the speech in German, but he set out a thoughtful and carefully-judged balance between acknowledging past divisions and then looking forward to a modern alliance.

Even though he is the first British monarch born after the two world wars, there was no way that his visit would not be framed by those conflicts.

It's a difficult area and he spoke of the importance of reconciliation. That included a sensitive reference to those who had died in Hamburg from Allied wartime air raids - and he followed it by later laying a wreath in the city at a memorial for 34,000 who died in air raids 80 years ago.

The King also frequently mentioned another war - the one currently raging in Ukraine.

His language was strong - talking of "unprovoked aggression" against Ukraine - and he highlighted the efforts of Germany in supporting more than a million refugees.

For those looking out for a change in style, this was very direct in its language and its arguments. There was little diplomatic camouflage.

There was also no sign of the King going quiet on his campaigning for environmental causes and promoting green technology. There were so many eco-themes that the state visit seemed to be turning into a sustainability roadshow.

But in terms of ticking off the checklist of the purposes of the trip, there will be some satisfaction.

It was fundamentally about patching up European friendships strained by Brexit and re-establishing a partnership for future challenges.

At the state banquet, the German president was blunt about telling the King he thought that Brexit had been a "sad day". But he seemed to be saying that Germany was ready to move on from that row and that it wouldn't jeopardise good relations.

"Many feared that Brexit could make the Germans and the British drift apart. However this did not happen. Too strong are the ties between our countries," said President Frank-Walter Steinmeier - who cited the state visit as evidence of an unbroken friendship.

A much harder question is whether such trips can really turn the dial on public opinion?

It's difficult when so many parts of these visits are held out of reach of the public and behind very tight security and police checkpoints, with scanners, dogs, divers and helicopters. There were more searches than Google to get into the events.

In the language of such security sweeps, areas for visits are made "sterile", but it can also mean in another way that events can feel rather sterile too.

It's been eight years since the last state visit and it raises the question about what should such a modern visit look like? And how do you separate it from being just another touring celebrity?

But there were big crowds who came out into the rain in Hamburg to give the King a very positive reception - and there was plenty of affectionate curiosity from Berliners, watching the royal motorcade thundering past.

There was clearly much goodwill on this German trip - and both sides will be happy, and probably relieved, with the outcome.

Source: BBC