CEO: Growing AA is closer to its 2020 goal

Anadolu Agency (AA) has experienced a 111 per cent growth of all production areas since 2011, the same year it set a goal to become one of the top five news agencies in the world by 2020, AA’s CEO Kemal Ozturk said during an evaluation conference on Thursday. Emphasizing that Turkey is located in the world’s most politically complicated region, the Middle East, Mr. Ozturk said Turkey has a historical relation to every country in this region. Mr. Ozturk stressed the importance of being aware that humanity is dying in Gaza, that children are freezing to death in Syria and that the dictator regime in Egypt is becoming worse. Underlining that Anadolu Agency has a historical, religious and blood ties to these regions, Mr. Ozturk said AA has a mission to cover the daily painful events, with the hope to cover blissful news in the region one day. ‘’Every night, before we go to sleep, we are haunted by our conscience as being witnesses of a frozen little baby left in the box, which is a shame to humanity,’’ Mr. Ozturk said. - ‘AA is becoming global’ Underlining that AA is growing internationally, Mr. Ozturk said AA is the first Turkish news agency to engage in global media operations. ‘’The reason why we’re growing strongly and fast is because of our common dream among the employees within the company,’’ he said. - AA to publish in Albanian and French Announcing that Anadolu Agency will begin publishing in Albanian, Mr. Ozturk also said AA would also begin publishing in French in 2014. Mr. Ozturk emphasized that publishing in Albanian is part of AA’s mission even if it might not be profitable. - ‘When blood is spilled, news occur rapidly’ Anadolu Agency’s deputy director general and editor, Omer Eksi, said the Middle East is the source of news. ‘’Because the blood in this region is spilled rapidly, the news occur rapidly,’’ Mr. Eksi said. Emphasizing that Anadolu Agency’s reporters in the Middle East are working under hard conditions, Mr. Eksi said that police raided an AA correspondent’s house and that some were taken under custody in the region. ‘’Some of our reporters' pictures are being deleted by local authorities,’’ Mr. Eksi also said.