TRT World

TRT World
CountryTurkey
Broadcast areaWorldwide
HeadquartersÇankaya, Ankara, Turkey
Programming
LanguageEnglish
Picture format
Ownership
OwnerTRT
Sister channels
History
Launched18 May 2015
(test broadcast)
30 June 2015; 11 years ago (2015-06-30)
ReplacedTRT International
Links
Websitewww.trtworld.com Edit this at Wikidata
Availability
Streaming media
trtworld.comWatch live

TRT World is a global television news channel broadcast by Turkish public State-owned international broadcaster TRT. It airs in English 24 hours a day and is based in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul. It provides worldwide news and current affairs focusing on Turkey, Europe, Africa, and Western and Southern Asia. In addition to its headquarters based in Ankara, TRT World has broadcasting centres and studios in Washington, D.C. and London. It is a member of the Association for International Broadcasting.

TRT World states that it is financially and editorially independent from the administration of Turkey, and that its news gathering is just like those of other publicly funded broadcasters around the world, with a mission to show a non-Turkish audience events from Turkey's viewpoint. Its connection to the Turkish government has been criticised.

Programmes

In addition to those listed below, TRT World runs various once-off documentaries. Current programmes on the channel are:

Press freedom and neutrality

In March 2020, the United States Justice Department required TRT World's Washington operation to register as an agent of the Government of Turkey, engaged in political activities, under the anti-propaganda Foreign Agents Registration Act. TRT World's argument that it is independent was rejected by US officials who said that the Turkish government "exercises direction and control of TRT by regulation and oversight, and by controlling its leadership, budget, and content."

According to MEMRI's executive director Steven Stalinsky, TRT World is "a propaganda arm of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's regime", similar to the Russian RT network. He wrote that the channel gave enthusiastically promotional coverage of the Turkish military's Operation Peace Spring in Syria. Stalinsky wrote that, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the government banned critical news coverage domestically. Stalinsky urged human rights activists, journalists, and others not to appear on the network's shows.

Following the 2016 Turkish coup attempt, some journalists who had recently joined the company resigned. One of those who resigned said: "I no longer hold out any hope that this channel will become what I wanted it to become (...) After the coup, it became very apparent that the channel had no intention of actually covering it properly, in a professional, international broadcast standard." The managing editor at the time said that he "never received a phone call from Ankara trying to frame the broadcast or give them talking points."

During the 2020 Evros border crisis, the Greek government alleged that TRT World and other Turkish media produced fake news. The prime minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, alleged this in a CNN interview twice, during which he said that propaganda videos from Turkish media aimed to discredit the Hellenic Coast Guard and Hellenic Armed Forces. TRT World said that Greece sent back refugee vessels to Turkish waters, which was denied by Greece. Conversely, there have been reports by other sources of Greek coastal authorities forcing the refugee vessels back to Turkish side, in a military strategy dubbed "push back".

In May 2025, India briefly blocked the X (formerly Twitter) account of TRT World for allegedly spreading misinformation and propaganda related to India's military operations against Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. The Indian government said TRT World had amplified unverified and manipulated content, including pro-Pakistan narratives, distorted reporting on Kashmir, and dissemination of false claims about Indian military actions. This move was part of a broader crackdown on foreign media outlets accused of violating Indian IT rules and spreading disinformation amid heightened tensions. TRT World's website and other social media accounts remained accessible during the ban.

Awards and nominations

In 2023 TRT World was awarded an International Emmy for its documentary on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which was titled "Off The Grid".

In 2018 TRT World was nominated in five categories at the Drum Online Media Awards:

Notable staff

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sigismondi, Paolo (25 July 2019). World Entertainment Media: Global, Regional and Local Perspectives. Taylor & Francis. pp. 256–. ISBN 978-1-351-60370-6.
  2. ↑ Srivastava, Mehul; Mance, Henry (11 March 2016). "Turkish TV station aims to switch western views". Financial Times. Retrieved 27 January 2018. "There has [for many years] been a need for a broadcast channel delivering the events to the world from a different perspective, which presents Turkey's own viewpoint," says Ibrahim Eren, head of broadcasting for TRT. [...] In 2015 Reporters without Borders(opens a new window) ranked Turkey 149th in the world for press freedom, behind South Sudan and Palestine.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  3. ↑ "In TRT World's 'Showcase,' arts coverage goes global". DailySabah. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "Inside America – TRT World". Inside America – TRT World. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  5. ↑ "Bigger than Five – TRT World". Bigger than Five – TRT World. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  6. ↑ U.S. Department of Justice, National Security Division (1 August 2019). "Obligation of Turkish Radio & Television Corporation to Register Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act". U.S. Department of Justice. p. 5. Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  7. ↑ Stalinsky, Steven (12 November 2019). "Opinion – This Turkish TV network is Erdogan's propaganda arm.fsefgg U.S. experts should stop appearing on it". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  8. ↑ Ünal, Ali (21 November 2016). "TRT World Ceo İbrahim Eren: We will tell the truth, even if it is inconvenient or disturbing". Daily Sabah. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  9. ↑ Scott, Alev (22 August 2016). "Turkish journalists seek refuge abroad post-coup". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  10. 1 2 Nissenbaum, Dion (12 August 2016). "After Turkey's Failed Coup, a State-Owned TV Station Tilts". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 17 May 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  11. ↑ "Greek PM to Turkey: 'Stop the provocations, let's start talking' | CNN". 20 August 2020. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023 – via CNN.
  12. ↑ Reynolds, Emma (28 August 2020). "Europe's migrant crisis is worsening during the pandemic. The reaction has been brutal". CNN. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  13. ↑ Deshmukh, Vishwajeet; Malhotra, Lubna (24 November 2020). Mahajan, Khushali (ed.). "Migration, Push-Backs and Europe: A Blind Eye to a Refugee Crisis". Jurist. University of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  14. ↑ "Turkish broadcaster's X account briefly blocked in India over misinformation". India Today. 14 May 2025. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  15. ↑ "7 factors that forced India to crack down on Turkey's TRT". Firstpost. 14 May 2025. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  16. ↑ "India lifts block on Global Times and TRT World X accounts, Xinhua handle still withheld". Financialexpress. 15 May 2025. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  17. ↑ "PROGRAMS ON UKRAINE WAR FROM UK & TURKEY WIN INTERNATIONAL EMMYS® FOR NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS". International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 10 August 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 "Online Media Awards 2018". The Drum Awards. 31 October 2017. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2018.