Over the past 20 years, Türkiye has undergone a profound transformation across all sectors. From education to health care, from transportation to infrastructure and the defense industry, the country has rapidly addressed its deficiencies and, with a new perspective and a newly constructed language, is advancing confidently toward the future. This period is marked by two key characteristics. First, groups that had long remained on the periphery with highly limited access to public services have been brought to the center, enabling them to benefit easily from these now-expanded services. In this way, the country has carried out a development initiative that has reached all segments of society and all regions. The quality of its human capital has risen, and all parts of society have shared in the increase in collective welfare.
The second characteristic is the continuous strengthening of the capacity of institutions and organizations by relying on the common language established in this new era. As institutions have grown, Türkiye has become stronger; and as Türkiye has grown stronger, this positive feedback loop has further enhanced the development of its institutions. This dynamic, day by day, increases the likelihood of realizing the vision of the "Century of Türkiye." For example, advances in the defense industry have gone beyond serving merely as a component of national security; by pushing employment figures above 100,000, they have also become a powerful contributor to the economy. Similarly, the expansion of service capacity at Turkish Airlines (THY) and AJet has transformed Türkiye into one of the world’s leading aviation hubs.
A similar transformation has taken place at TRT, Türkiye’s first and only public broadcaster. Over the past 20 years, TRT has fundamentally renewed its service capacity and introduced a new vision across many areas – from content to technological infrastructure, from international representation to digital platforms. Today, with 17 television channels, 17 radio channels, 9 international digital news platforms, the international digital platform Tabii, numerous digital applications and games, national and international strategic summits, co-produced feature films, TRT Academy, and dozens of brands, TRT both accompanies Türkiye’s development journey and provides strong representation in international broadcasting.
Broadcasting in 41 languages, TRT has gained a truly global institutional structure through its multinational workforce and expanding network of foreign bureaus. Today, it operates active representations in 18 countries – Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Jerusalem, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, North Macedonia, Russia, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus(TRNC), Turkmenistan, the U.K., the U.S., and Uzbekistan. This organizational structure has provided a vital foundation for TRT to make its voice heard on a global scale.
Just as increasing the domestic production rate in the defense industry from around 20% to over 80% is a strategic achievement, it is equally noteworthy that TRT’s recent breakthroughs have been realized largely through domestic capabilities. Between 2021 and 2024, TRT produced more than 3,700 series, films, documentaries and programs, 73% of which were in-house productions. TRT’s progress has also been recognized internationally through numerous awards. In 2023, TRT World’s "Off The Grid: Ukraine Wartime Diaries" documentary won an Emmy Award; in the same year, TRT Director General Mehmet Zahid Sobacı was elected president of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), which has 230 members from 65 countries and reaches 4 billion viewers. Additionally, the chairmanship of the ABU News Group being entrusted to TRT further confirms the institution’s success in international journalism.
In May 2023, TRT launched "tabii" with the aim of creating a domestic alternative to international digital platforms. Established entirely with local resources, the platform entered the market with 30 original productions – making it the digital platform with the highest number of originals at launch. With the slogan “Stories That Unite Us,” tabii seeks to redefine the spirit of the digital age in harmony with our cultural values, thereby positioning itself as a meaningful alternative. Accessible in dozens of countries, offering content in five different languages, and continuously expanding its audience base, tabii is growing into a global brand. Today, Tabii has more than 13 million users and has so far brought to viewers over 60 original productions, more than 600 films and series, more than 600 documentaries and programs, and a total of over 22,000 hours of content.
Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2024, TRT established TRT Academy in January of the same year as a modern reflection of its longstanding mission to institutionalize broadcasting education. Launched with the slogan “Where dreams meet experience,” TRT Academy introduces an innovative approach to media education through its modules, courses, podcasts, and books – all developed entirely by TRT personnel. TRT Academy is particularly significant as it is a project realized solely through TRT’s own internal resources. With training modules prepared by expert instructors cultivated within TRT and covering a wide range of topics, TRT Academy opens its doors to students of all ages who are passionate about the media and communication sector. Through TRT Academy, TRT conveys its strong expertise in media, communication, and broadcasting to its target audiences via diverse educational opportunities offered both digitally and face-to-face.
TRT’s mission of serving as a school has been expanded and delivered to wider audiences through this project, which utilizes today’s capabilities and digital technologies within a more systematic structure. At present, TRT Academy’s video trainings consist of 262 episodes across 36 topics, while its face-to-face trainings are organized under 31 training titles. TRT Academy also includes podcasts comprising 50 episodes across six categories, as well as virtual classroom trainings grouped under 16 instructional titles. The 8-book Education Series and the 8-book Cinema Series stand out as complementary components of the training offerings. In addition, experience-sharing webinars are held each month within the scope of TRT Academy, allowing industry professionals to meet audiences through open-access platforms. After completing the training programs, participants can access their documents and certificates via the e-Government portal following the assessment and evaluation processes.
As emphasized in Edward Said’s seminal work "Orientalism," the West does not allow the East – whose boundaries extend far beyond geography – to speak for itself, keeping the authority to produce the East’s representations under its own monopoly. International communication channels play a crucial role in maintaining this monopoly. In this way, the East is subdued, rendered passive and deprived of the right to express its own story in its own voice. With TRT’s multilingual broadcasting and its successful implementation of international digital news platforms, the institution’s growing influence in digital spaces is helping to challenge and diminish the impact of Orientalism in this field.
TRT’s international digital news platforms – TRT World (English), TRT Arabi (Arabic), TRT Deutsch (German), TRT Russian (Russian), TRT Français (French), TRT Balkan (Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, Montenegrin, Macedonian and Albanian), and TRT Afrika (Swahili, Hausa, English, French) – were joined in 2024 by TRT Español (Spanish) and TRT Farsi (Persian). With this expansion, TRT’s development significantly increases global access to accurate news through these channels. Considering that news has long been framed through a Western perspective, the creation of such an alternative communication pathway contributes not only to the use of communication as a form of soft power but also to allowing voices that are often suppressed or ignored to be heard.
In the context of Orientalism, the East – through TRT’s contributions – has gained the ability to speak for itself and steadily expands its capacity to produce its own representations. Thus, through all these international digital news platforms, which challenge the long-standing, single-sourced global flow of information, what has been unseen is now shown, and what has gone unheard is now conveyed – wherever in the world it may be. In doing so, TRT continues to be not only Türkiye’s voice but also the voice of regions across the world that have long been overlooked or silenced.
Within this framework, Israel’s genocide and war crimes against Gaza have been closely followed by TRT from the very first day. Special content and documentaries have been produced in multiple languages and across television, digital, and radio platforms, including national and international news broadcasts. “I See Gaza,” “Witness,” “Holy Redemption: Seizing the Land of Palestine,” “Digital Occupation,” “The Sole Survivor,” and “Zionism: Manufacturing a State” are just a few of these productions. The documentary “Holy Redemption: Seizing the Land of Palestine,” produced by the TRT World team, won the “Best Documentary and Program” award at the Al Jazeera Balkans International Documentary Film Festival. In addition, national and international strategic media summits and events have featured special sessions, screenings, dedicated segments, and awards focused on Palestine, aiming to draw attention to the genocide unfolding in Gaza and emphasizing its significance across all platforms.
In summary, TRT has significantly expanded its capacity by aligning itself with the momentum Türkiye has gained over the past 20 years, becoming an effective actor both nationally and internationally. While producing a wide variety of content to meet the needs of audiences of all ages, it has also broadened its global broadcasting network, securing a respected position on the international stage. TRT’s strong contribution to this great transformation story – carried out in coordination with Türkiye’s institutions and organizations – is one of the most important guarantees of the sustainability of this national journey.
