[LINK] "Crimean Tatar TV back on air"

[rfmcdonald]

Open Democracy's Andrii Ianitskyi notes that the world's only Crimean Tatar television station is now broadcasting from Kyiv.

On 17 June, just before the beginning of Ramadan, ATR, the only Crimean Tatar television station in the world, resumed broadcasting after two months off air. The station is now based in Kyiv, however, not Simferopol.

Prior to the annexation of Crimea, ATR was an increasingly influential source of news and comment on the peninsula. As one blogger from Simferopol, the administrative capital of Crimea, says: 'Over the past few years, many people – not only Crimean Tatars – got so used to the channel that it's hard think about the information space without it.' Indeed, ATR became – and remains – a symbol of the Crimean Tatars' return to their ancestral home.

ATR started broadcasting from the Crimean peninsula in 2006. The station initially made only short programmes, broadcasting up to two-and-a-half hours a day. But in 2011, the television channel began a new phase in its development following the involvement of Lenur Islyamov, a Russian businessman.

[. . .]

This influx of capital allowed ATR to start broadcasting 24 hours a day. Professional newscasters and journalists joined the team, and the channel had correspondents in Kyiv, Moscow, and Istanbul. Original content was provided in three languages: Russian, Ukrainian, and Crimean Tatar.

Over time, the TV station developed into a sizeable media holding, including a children's channel, a Crimean Tatar-language radio station, a Russian-language station, and a news site. In 2014, out of 57 channels operating on the peninsula, ATR was the fifth most popular TV channel, and was first among local stations.