Roj TV most popular in Southeast, poll says

Research Unveils Huge IDP Population

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

The long-awaited results of independent research revealed that the country's displaced population was no less than 800,000 -- a figure that is above the figure released by the government of around 350,000.

At least 800,000 people have been internally displaced since 1986 as a result of the conflict between security forces and members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the country's Southeast, according to research by Hacettepe University obtained by Turkish daily Milliyet.

Also yesterday in Diyarbakır , Yenişehir Mayor from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party Fırat Anlı announced results of a public survey that showed Roj TV -- seen by Turkey as the mouthpiece of the PKK -- to be the most popular television channel in the region.

Anlı said 21 percent of those who participated in the poll said they had come to Diyarbakır due to mandatory relocation during the 1990s. Of them, 20 percent said they had found it hard to adapt to urban life but eventually had become used to it, but another 20 percent said they would return to their villages if given help.