WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Kurdish Service of Voice of America today launched an expanded live version of its Kurd Connection TV Program to Iraqi-Kurdistan. The news and current events show has been expanded from 20 minutes to 50 minutes at the request of the VOA affiliate that broadcasts it, NRT TV, one of the most popular channels in the region.
Given fast breaking events, with "Islamic State" forces seizing territory in Syria and other parts of Iraq, VOA Director David Ensor said, “We believe it is of the utmost importance to provide our audience in Iraqi-Kurdistan with reliable and unbiased reports of what is happening.”
Kurd Connection is seen by a primetime audience at 9:00 p.m. local time, every Tuesday and Saturday evening. VOA Kurdish anchors Dakhil Elias and Motabar Shirwani host the program from Washington, D.C.
By expanding from 20 to 50 minutes, Kurd Connection will be able to go into great depth about the latest developments in Iraq, Turkey and Syria, as well as provide more information of U.S. reaction to events in the region.
Mehmet Yuksel, the Washington representative of the Kurdish Democratic People’s Party in Turkey, and Alan Youssef, a Kurdish Affairs activist in Washington, were the main guests in the first expanded Kurd Connection show.
VOA’s Kurdish Service is the only international broadcaster that speaks to the Kurds of the Middle East in their main dialects, Sorani and Kurmanji.
