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Diaspora Voices and the Use of Kurdish Satellite TV
Abstract
The aim of my paper is to examine how European-based Kurdish satellite TV/Internet and social media outlets manage, respond to, and shape Diaspora Kurdish perceptions about rapidly changing events inside Turkey, Northern Iraq (KRG), and Iran. Among the central questions to be discussed in my paper are: How do specific Kurdish Diaspora satellite television stations attempt to portray the changing dynamic in all three countries? What are some of the constraints Kurdish media outlets experience in Europe? And, which stations and affiliated political groups exert the most influence on Kurdish media in Europe? I will provide an analysis of satellite stations that operate in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and France, and evaluate their roles and impact on the Diaspora over the past several years. Within this context, it will be imperative to (a) gauge the Kurdish Diaspora political framing of the Green Movement in Iran, (b) examine the coverage of the scheduled Turkish national elections, (c) determine whether the Diaspora’s assessment of Turkey’s relationship with the Kurdish minority has shifted in comparison with the failed 2009 Kurdish Opening, and (d) analyze the Kurdish Diaspora’s reaction to an increasingly assertive central government in Baghdad. My paper fits well within the proposed panel since I will discuss the Diasporic efforts to shape future prospects for Kurds in Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. There have been few media studies regarding transformative events within the Diaspora, even though conditions for Kurds in Iran, Turkey, and Iraq have changed significantly since 2005. In my presentation I hope to call attention to ongoing efforts by various Kurdish Diaspora organizations to shape public perceptions and discourses about Kurdish communities through the use of satellite TV.
Discipline
Political Science
Geographic Area
None
Sub Area
Diaspora/Refugee Studies