By Voon Miaw Ping
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Discussions to set up an English language channel – proposed by Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia to counter Islamophobia – have begun, with a technical meeting held between Pakistan and Turkey.
Turkish Ambassador to Malaysia Merve Safa Kavakci said Turkey’s Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun had led a delegation to a meeting with Pakistani representatives on the matter last week.
The proposed English language channel to counter Islamophobia was initiated by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during a trilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly in New York last month.
Khan disclosed the initiative on his Twitter account after he met the leaders of Malaysia and Turkey in New York.
Kavakci said the matter is expected to be further discussed during Erdogan’s official visit to Pakistan by the end of this month.
“In the coming weeks, we should have a better idea of how to go about this (project). From the way things are picking up, all parties are taking it seriously.
“We will be able to see the fruition and the substantiation of the efforts in weeks to come,” she told Bernama International News Service in an interview at her office, here, Monday.
Kavakci believed the proposal was made based on the mutual understanding by the three leaders who are concerned about the plight of the global Ummah (Muslim community) and the rising anti-Muslim sentiments around the world.
She said the project is expected to be multi-pronged, consisting of a TV channel as well as a social media platform, in a bid to disseminate information about Islam to the masses.
“The TV channel will be part of a larger effort to counter anti-Muslim sentiments, hate crimes and racisms against Islam and its people,” she said.
She added that Malaysia and Turkey also serve as a good example to the world where people of different backgrounds can live in peace with each other.
“It is emblematic of what a channel, as such, want to strive for. We just need to take our local examples to the international arena to show that this is possible … to dissipate the misconceived notions and prejudices about our religion and the people,” she said.
On another development, Kavakci said Turkey is ready to take the lead and become the operation base for the project.
“We are willing to host the TV channel, as we have the capacity and the technical expertise to do so,” she said.
— NNN-BERNAMA