THE FOURTH OF SERIES OF TURKMEN INTELLECTUALS MEETINGS HELD IN ORSAM

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The fourth of series of Turkmen Intellectuals Meetings was carried out by ORSAM on October 10th 2009. Many Turkmen intellectuals and representatives of various Turkmen organizations from different cities of Turkey participated in the meeting themed, “Problems of Turkmen Media”.  

 Kemal Beyatlı, Head of Iraqi Turkmen Press Council, made an extremely useful and informative presentation on “Turkmen Press”, which was the main topic of the meeting. Stating the current problems related to Turkmen press, Beyatlı made some suggestions on how these problems could be overcome. In addition to this, Beyatlı gave some information on Turkmen Press Council. Beyatlı indicated that the borders of press expanded upon the development of technology, and he also laid an emphasis on the fact that it went beyond radio and television, and expanded through every field with internet. Especially underlining the Turkmen print media, Beyatlı stated that it has three pillars composed of writer, press and audience; and he indicated that this mechanism would be totally affected if one of these pillars went through a problem. Beyatlı, who said that the Turkmen press has had difficulty in finding qualified writer after a certain period of time, indicated the major reason of this problem as not being able to read and write in native language because of the regime pressure. On the other hand suggesting that the primary problem of the Turkmen is lack of technology, Beyatlı also put an emphasis on the lack of specialist on press. Beyatlı, who touched on problems caused by the limited audience among the Turkmen, stated that this problem could be overcome with education. Mentioning visual media in addition to all these, Beyatlı indicated that the quality in broadcasting is not sufficient, the problems of the Turkmen cannot be fully brought forward, and most importantly the television is not sufficient in announcing this to the world, despite the fact that Turkmeneli Television has the best technological opportunities. Beyatlı mentioned that single television would not be enough to announce the problems, traditions and cultures of the Turkmen to the world, and that the number of Turkmen television and radios should absolutely be increased. Talking on the lack of education in social sciences among the Turkmen, Beyatlı suggested that the Turkmen families should lead the Turkmen youth to social sciences. Beyatlı stated that the Turkmen youth has a lot to do at this point. Lastly touching on advantages and disadvantages of internet, Beyatlı concluded his remarks by indicating that the Turkmen should properly use this technology.