Turkey launches media training program for Rohingya

By Mehmet Alaca and Mesut Ozcan

ANKARA (AA) - The Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) and Turkish broadcaster TRT inaugurated the “Arakan Media Training Program” on Monday.

Rohingya Muslim journalists and students residing in 12 different countries will participate in the program which will be held in Ankara and Istanbul.

“We define this program as media training, but the main purpose is to consolidate brotherhood between the two communities,” Abdullah Eren, the head of YTB, said at the ceremony.

Participants will receive trainings in digital and social media from experts in the Turkish media sector.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017.

The UN has also documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces.

In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.

*Writing By Erdogan Cagatay Zontur