Syrian news network in Istanbul celebrates 3rd anniversary
News anchors deliver the news in the Syrian TV headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. (Archive Photo)


Syria TV, a news network established in Turkey by Syrian journalists and media workers, celebrated its third anniversary Wednesday, marking another year in its endeavors to raise international awareness for Syrian issues, migrants' struggles and the future of Syria.

Founded in March 2018 in Istanbul as part of the Qatari Fadaat Media Group, the network is headquartered in Istanbul, which is home to a large number of refugees. It broadcasts a variety of programs and news shows in Arabic, covering news on society, politics, entertainment and culture for Syrian viewers at home and abroad. The channel employs nearly 200 media workers.

The network aims to bridge the spaces and gaps between the members of the Syrian nation by trying to reflect on the conditions Syrians encounter, both inside Syria and abroad.

"On the third anniversary of its foundation, Syria TV maintains its media and human-based mission, and affirms that it will continue to stand for freedom and justice," read the network's press release on the occasion.

The network stressed the unity of Syria politically and geographically and said that Syria belonged culturally to the Arab and Islamic civilization, which made up the Syrian homeland.

The network stated that it welcomed Syrians from all sects and backgrounds and that its values were based on the spirit of the Arab revolution and the transformative waves that it brought to the region.

The director of Syria TV, Hamzah Al-Mustafa, said that the goal of the network in its third year was to reach Syrian viewers in areas under the regime's control and to form an alternative media to that of the dictatorial Assad regime's media.

Al-Mustafa told Turkish Radio and Television Corporation's (TRT) Arabic language channel TRT Arabi that the network chose Turkey as its broadcasting center because of the country's beliefs in freedom and democracy, and its support for the freedom of the Syrian people.