Turkish state televison (TRT) launched a new Kurdish-language station Thursday evening, in a move that the government hopes will see Kurdish-speakers reject Roj TV, a satellite television station run by the separatist Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), according to DPA. The TRT 6 station was launched with a live concert in Ankara by Kurdish performers. A pre-recorded message by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also broadcast with the prime minister saying that the Turkish state was inclusive and belonged to all citizens. "I wish TRT 6 the best," Erdogan said in the Kurdish dialect of Kermanji, the most prominent dialect spoken by Turkey's Kurds. Turkish media reported that it was the first time that a Turkish prime minister had spoken a sentence in Kurdish on television. "TRT 6 is an important step for democracy in Turkey ... it will help support peace in the country," Erdogan said in Turkish.
