Cable and satellite TV has a strong foothold on Lebanon and has become a necessity in every home. Walking down the streets of Beirut, you cannot help but notice the satellite dishes and the television cable wires that block the view of the sky. Most homes receive the various television stations from Europe and the Middle East giving the viewers vast choices of programs. Depending on their knowledge of languages, viewers prefer the stations that provide them programs in the language that they understand. Since a lot of Armenians, specially the older generations, are fluent in Turkish or at least understand the language well, Turkish programs have been favoured in our Armenian communities. The well prepared shows have captivated the imagination of a lot of viewers who have become avid watchers of Turkish satellite TV.

The Turkish government understands the power of TV and has been using it as a propaganda machine to ameliorate its image in the world. Its western-style programs have become an advertising mechanism selling Turkey to the world as a modern state with western-style mentality. The consumers of Turkish TV, meaning the viewers, should be careful about admiring what they see. It would be mistake to think that their viewed pictures represent Turkey and the life of the Turkish people. The viewers only see a rosy picture of entertainment and make-believe. Even the news that airs on the stations are very well choreographed and presented so that it does not have any dept and is a mere drama-like entertainment. The truth is very far form what is represented on the screens. The Turkish government is oppressively persecuting its own people and killing its citizens. The government is also censuring the media and infringing on its people’s right to express its opinions and ideas freely. Supposedly Turkey is a democratic state, but its people cannot choose the government of their choice. The authoritarian military council deposes or forces the resignation of any government whom it does not like. Yet none of this is obvious from the entertaining Turkish satellite television stations. Turkey is relying on its directors, actors, producers and the gullible audience to create the Turkish fairy-tale. Watchers of Turkish satellite TV should be aware of these facts and be critical, because the images that are being presented are beautiful masks that the Turkish government has created and is hiding behind it with all its human rights abuses and atrocities against its own people.

How can the viewers protect themselves from the misleading propaganda of Turkish TV?