Anadolu Agency to be voice of Palestinians

Chairman of the Board and the Director General of Anadolu Agency (AA) Kemal Ozturk said, "Gaza office was opened to herald peace between our Palestinian brothers, which Islamic world looks forward to." Speaking at a press conference with Palestinian journalists, Ozturk said, a common problem of the Turkish and Islamic world was not having news agencies ranking among the 10 best in the world which leads to the Western agencies publishing the events in this geography only by themselves. "Therefore", Ozturk added, "AA headed to solve this problem 1.5 years ago and became one of the best 10 agencies shortly. We decided to rank among the best 5 news agencies in the world by 2020", summarizing AA’s centennial vision. Emphasizing that AA had correspondents around the world, particularly in the most important locations in the Middle East, Ozturk said, "What matters is that our correspondents make and publish news directly in Arabic." -AA News Academy and New Media- Ozturk said, AA has established its own News Academy in line with its centennial vision, which train correspondents, in specific areas such as diplomacy, finance, and war, with more than one language and new media skills. Pointing out the importance of technology as well as the skilled correspondents, Ozturk also described AA`s newly launched News Transmission System (HAS), programmed by AA`s own software developers, as one of the most developed news systems of the world. "AA does not take sides"- Ozturk said, "AA Gaza Office will be the most important voice of Palestinian cause," adding, AA does not only belong to Turks but to all Islamic world and all the suppressed whereever they reside. Responding to journalists` questions, Ozturk said, "I believe, those who are interested in the Palestinian cause should watch other parts of the world carefully. Do you know that thousands are dying in the camps in Myanmar? If we do not adopt a universal outlook, we will have difficulty in solving the problem." Regarding AA`s stance on Israeli-Palestinian issue, Ozturk said, "AA does not take sides, but if it would, that would be the side of Palestinian people. AA does not prioritize one side over another ideologically, neither. Our priority is making news of that child without shoes that we saw today on the (Gaza) coast. Our priority is to make news of the tragedy that the Gaza siege causes. To be sure, Islamic world is looking forward to see that our Palestinian brothers make peace. That is why we opened an office in Gaza, to be the first in heralding the peace to the world".