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The launching of the first Kurdish satellite television channel, MED-TV, opened a new site of conflict between the Kurds and the Middle Eastern states that rule over Kurdistan. After more than 30 years of military engagement between the Kurdish people and the state of Iraq, Iran and Turkey, signals from the sky changed the theater of war in favor of the Kurds. Transcending the international borders which since 1918 have divided the land in which Kurds live, the channel allowed the Kurds, for the first time in their history, to establish a powerful mode of communication among themselves, and undermine the state-centered geopolitical order that has reduced them to the status of helpless minorities. Thus, failing to achieve self-rule in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria after decades of armed resistance, the Kurds feel that they have achieved sovereignty in the sky, i.e. a `great historical leap' toward self-rule in their homeland.1
Among the Middle Eastern countries, Turkey is the first and the only one to use its full state power to silence MED-TV. Accusing the channel of being the mouthpiece of the 'terrorist' Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Ankara unleashed its coercive forces to prevent the reception of the airwaves within Turkey, whereas in Europe, it used diplomatic power, espionage, jamming, and various forms of intimidation to stop the emission of television signals. Since MED-TV was licensed in Britain and its studios were located in Brussels, Berlin and Stockholm, a number of European Union countries and even the United States have been drawn into Turkey's satellite war. Ankara has also tried to mobilize satellite service providers, both private and state-owned, against the channel.
The role of communication technologies in the formation of empires and nations is well known.2 Printing has been called the architect of nationalism3 and radio has served the centralization of political power and nation-building.4 As an audiovisual medium, television is more effective than radio and print media. Televisual messages generally cross the social boundaries of illiteracy, language, regionalism, age, gender, and religion. Combining visuality with sound and language, both spoken and written, television is a powerful vehicle for creating national culture and identity. Up-linked from Europe to a satellite, MED-TV's signals are beamed to Europe, West Asia and North Africa eighteen hours a...