Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Special VOA Programs will showcase Obama town hall in Turkey

Today Voice of America will carry special programs on its worldwide network featuring President Barack Obama's student town hall meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. During the town hall meeting, "Listening: Global Issues of Concern to Students, and How the United States Can Participate for a Better World," President Obama will engage in a discussion with an expected 100 Turkish and international exchange students. "This is a great opportunity to share with our audience an event that exemplifies President Obama's outreach efforts to the international community," said VOA Director Danforth Austin. VOA's English Service will broadcast the entire event live - scheduled for tomorrow at 0920 UTC (5:20 a.m. EDT) - on radio, television and the Internet. In addition, VOA Turkish will offer an extended television special with town hall highlights, and many of VOA's 43 other language services will carry it live, or feature portions of the event and reaction. VOA's Baris Ornarli from the Turkish Service, who is on assignment in Istanbul, will co-host an extended evening program on Tuesday with affiliate program TGRT Live, featuring interviews and interactive segments with VOA studios in Washington, D.C. TGRT Live is carried by TGRT Haber TV, the fourth leading national TV news network in Turkey. VOA Turkish will also feature a number of special programs on its affiliate radio stations in Turkey, Cyprus and Kosovo, and on the Internet at www.VOANews.com/Turkish. VOA's English language programs are available on an extensive worldwide media network, reaching an audience of over 134 million. The town hall will also be available live and on demand on its website, www.VOANews.com. President Obama is visiting Turkey April 6-7 after accepting an invitation from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to attend a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations, a United Nations initiative aimed at fostering dialogue and increasing understanding between cultures and religions.
(VOA Press Release)

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