TRT World documentary wins Emmy Award for International News & Current Affairs

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – The 2023 International Emmy Award for News & Current Affairs has gone to a series produced by TRT World, the English-language branch of Turkish national broadcaster TRT.

The documentary series Ukraine Wartime Diaries was part of TRT World’s award-winning documentary series Off the Grid.

Mehmet Zahid Sobaci, TRT's director general, underlined the importance of winning the International Emmy news award on the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic, which is being celebrated this year.

“It is a great pride for TRT to bring this award to Türkiye for the first time,” Sobaci said, praising his colleagues for producing such powerful content.

Sobaci said on X that the honor would not be the last for Türkiye. He thanked Communications Director Fahrettin Altun and the entire TRT World team for their support in line with their aim of “telling the world to the world.”

Omer Faruk Tanriverdi, TRT’s deputy general manager, said: "Of course, we are proud and happy. This award we received is proof of the point TRT World has reached in international journalism and broadcasting. I congratulate all our friends who contributed, especially the Off The Grid team."

Bora Bayraktar, TRT World channel coordinator, said the award showed that TRT World does journalism at world-class standards.

“This is the biggest award in television in America. It is the first time that a Turkish documentary won this award. We are very proud in that respect,” Bayraktar said.

- 'Dedication, passion, determined work'

Mouhssine Ennaimi, who prepared the documentary, said: "We received the reward of dedication, passion, and determined work in the field today with this award.”

Alexandre Pauilat, one of the series producers, stressed that the entire team worked with great patience and dedication for the documentary.

“We tried to reflect the most beautiful words and edit the best images. And I think that got through to the jury and the public,” he added.

The documentary covered the lives of civilians in Ukraine after the Russian war and brought home the destructive face of war to the audience. It was prepared by Mouhssine Ennaimi and Alexandre Pauliat and photographed by Hakan Hocaoglu.

Edited by Fatih Kibar and designed by Mahmut Sami Cavus, the documentary deals with the changing lives of Ukrainians.

“I wholeheartedly congratulate the TRT family and @trtworld team for breaking new ground and making us all proud with the International Emmy Award they received in the Current Affairs News Documentary category at the 44th International Emmy Awards,” Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on X.

The awards were presented at the Palladium Times Square in New York City.

The Emmy Awards are considered the world's most prestigious television awards.