OSCE donates equipment to Kyrgyzstan multilingual TV and radio station to promote pluralist, public media
OSH, 1 April 2014 – As part of OSCE efforts to support the development of pluralistic and professional media, the OSCE Centre in Bishkek today donated computer equipment to Yntymak TV and Radio in Osh, which is the only media outlet in the southern provinces of the country broadcasting programmes in Kyrgyz, Russian and Uzbek languages.
“Today’s handover aims to promote tolerance and peace-building as an effective conflict-resolution tool which corresponds to the overall mandate of the OSCE in general and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media in particular,” said Artem Aznaurian, Political Officer at the OSCE Centre in Bishkek.
Daniyar Sadiev, Director of Yntymak TV and Radio, said: “Our mission is to promote interethnic unity and support peace-building in the region. These values are at the core of our news and entertainment programming and we believe that this approach helps to improve the overall atmosphere in the society.”
Mira Karybaeva, Chief of the Division of Ethnic, Religious Policies and Interaction with Civil Society, President’s Office of the Kyrgyz Republic, said: “Linguistic issues and issues of interethnic relations are cornerstones of the National strategy for sustainable development. We hope that all stakeholders will continue their co-operation to invest efforts into consolidation of the society in the country.”
The multi-language media production studio “Yntymak” (‘Harmony’ in Kyrgyz) was founded by the order of the Kyrgyz Government with support from the Internews Network in 2012 to promote inter-ethnic reconciliation following the 2010 events in southern Kyrgyzstan.