A Turk who speaks not a word of Kurdish he helped to create Med-TV though he like the

A Turk who speaks not a word of Kurdish, he helped to create Med-TV, though he, like the rest of the staff, had absolutely no prior television experience."We try to be the voice of all the Kurds and so we produce the news in every dialect," he says. "We don't want Kurds to lose their identity, which is already damaged very much."Most of the employees are young Kurds in exile, working seven days a week and earning little more than their expenses. Most hours of the day and night, this is where you will find Turan Demir, the earnest, ultra- competent 23-year-old news director. Before editing Watchdog, he worked on most of the corporation's top news and current affairs strands, including Breakfast Time, Newsnight, Panorama and Here and Now.His remit at ITV Network Centre covers not just current affairs, but also news.

British Digital Broadcasting (BDB), a joint venture between media groups Granada and Carlton, yesterday announced it was going ahead with plans to put the television set-top boxes in the shops in the run up to Christmas, where they will come compete head to head with similar products from BSkyB, Rupert Murdoch's satellite broadcaster. As one viewer in Paris explains, "Med-TV has helped many people realise what it means to be Kurdish."The bulk of the station's production takes place in a sprawling, nondescript building in the dreary Brussels suburb of Denderleeuw. Soldiers smash the dishes they find.Throughout the diaspora, cultural centres turn into mini-cinemas at news time. It makes a point of providing air time to a range of religious and political viewpoints.

Cartoons give many children their first lessons in Kurdish.Kurds separated by borders, languages and political differences have unanimously embraced the intrepid station In south-eastern Turkey, satellite dish sales have soared People sell their livestock to scrape together the money. "When we watch Med-TV, it's as though we had Kurdistan before our very eyes."A privately owned station named after the Kurds' ancient ancestors, Med- TV has been on the air for three difficult years. It escapes censure in Turkey and elsewhere by transmitting via satellite from its headquarters in London, a small office facing Burberry's on Regent Street. With production centres in various European cities, the station reaches Kurds in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.Now broadcasting 18 hours a day, Med-TV offers not only news but talk shows, music, cultural programmes, and even Charlie Chaplin films.