Turkish communications director sends protest letter to US news network

By Busra Nur Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish communications director sent a letter of protest Tuesday to US television network CBS News after it portrayed the Turkish metropolitan city of Istanbul as Greek territory in a report.

Fahrettin Altun said in his letter that CBS News falsely identified “Istanbul, which has been part of our nation’s sovereign territory since 1453- as part of Greece in a recent report about the passage of Russian warships through the Straits,” according to Turkiye’s Directorate of Communications.

“Keeping in mind that Greece has been jeopardizing regional security and undermining NATO’s eastern flank by making maximalist demands over the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea, we hereby protest your organization’s misrepresentation of Turkiye’s borders- which we hope, was an honest mistake- officially and unequivocally,” said Altun.

“We expect your organization to take necessary measures in order to prevent a similar mistake from being made in the future and to refrain from taking any steps that could challenge our county’s territorial integrity as well as an apology regarding yesterday’s events,” he added.